Two studies measure intangible assets v. total assets ratio
Ocean Tomo released its 2010 survey on market value v. book value of the S&P 500, concluding there has been little change in the make-up of intangible assets to total assets (remains at 80%) since 2005. Business Valuation Resources, LLC (BVR) released its findings after analyzing hundreds of purchase price allocations (PPAs), determining total intangible [...]
Without the willingness and wherewithal to defend IP rights, they are worth very little
Earlier this month, Richard Taylor wrote in The Telegraph of an inventor who burned the patent to his invention in front of Parliament in London protesting of the cost of defending the IP. Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postRecommend on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itSubscribe to the comments on this post
Google cloud storage terms may raise valuation questions
A recent item in The Chief Officers’ Network called our attention to the terms under which users subscribe to Google’s cloud storage services: “When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as [...]
Study shows plaintiffs in software patent infringement cases fare poorly in litigation
James Temple of the SF Chronicle, writing about Oracle v. Google specifically and software patents generally, alluded to a study by Stanford law professor Mark Lemley, and others, that found software patent holders lose nearly 90% of the time in litigation. It’s a surprising statistic, one valuators might find useful in scenario planning for software [...]
Facebook’s defense strategy against Yahoo is taking shape
Facebook apparently has chosen to fight Yahoo (see here for the back story) rather than settle. In a second major patent purchase, adding to the 750 patents purchased from IBM, Facebook has acquired 650 patents from Microsoft for $550M. The 650 patents were part of Microsoft’s recent 925-patent purchase from AOL. (A license to the [...]
State of Maryland sponsors incubator fund
Awaiting the governor’s signature is a recently passed bill authorizing The Maryland Innovation Initiative Fund, under the direction of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation. The state will contribute $5M to the fund, designed to help university-spawned “concepts” reach start-up company stage and commercialize their inventions by providing marketing and support to the technology transfer offices [...]
Virtual celebrity appearances will create a scramble in IP enforcement and changes in estate valuations
The wonder of the recent appearance of Tupac Shakur in holographic form at a rock concert will undoubtedly be followed by extensive legal analysis, especially by those enforcing IP rights. As pointed out in the American University Intellectual Property Brief, a hologram can not only make a deceased artist appear on stage, the image can [...]
Companies are making progress understanding the importance of IP valuation
In CPA Global’s latest State of the IP Industry Survey, 77% of corporate IP professionals said there is a greater awareness in their organizations of the importance of IP valuation than there was one year ago. Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postRecommend on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itSubscribe to the comments on this post
Survey spotlights costs of defending against aggressive NPEs
At a recent summit in Napa Valley, Article One Partners surveyed 36 senior executives from large, IP – centric companies about the state of IP management in today’s world of dominant, litigation-prone non-practicing entities (NPEs). Here’s what they found: Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postRecommend on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itSubscribe to the comments [...]
Look and feel of a website may be protected as trade dress
Michael Aiken of the McCoy Law Group writes that aside from the copyright protections afforded the text and artistic intangibles on a website, there may be protected value in the “look and feel.” He admits the case law is skimpy (read developing). In order for such protection to exist, the website features qualifying for trade [...]
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