It's been two decades since Intellectual Property (IP) and its development became a defining element in investment strategies for parties on both sides of the negotiation table. In the late 1990's, investors wanted their dot-com startup companies to have patents, as it would help the company appear innovative. Even after the dot-coms went bust, investors regarded IP as upside protection; meaning, if the company went under, the IP portion of the portfolio could keep the deal from being a complete loss. Investors, like Venture Capitalists (VCs), who got burned by multiple failed investment efforts, turned their interest towards start-up companies with a strong balance sheet versus those with no revenue potential. For example, if pre-investment research showed that the start-up had a Freedom to Operate (FTO), then IP became a more important consideration on an investor's check list.
POSTED BY John Cronin AT 12:20 P.M. Nov 20, 2018
TAGS: John Cronin | Regulation and Legislation | Strategy | Trade Secrets | Valuation | Mergers and Acquisitions | Licensing | Patent SalesWith one of the world’s fastest growing economies, China continues to develop its IP environment. As mentioned in the previous article China and the next Great Wall, China has already entered a transitional period away from seeking GDP growth by capital investments and imported technology diffusion toward promoting innovations from within. In this chapter and the upcoming second installment of a two-part article, we will discuss the recent developments in intellectual property rights in China and their efforts in building self-sustaining IP strategies. Further, we will analyze the opportunities and challenges for US firms with an aspect of international business development in this new era of IP development.
POSTED BY Yiyi Jin AT 2:19 P.M. August 14, 2018
TAGS: Innovation | Regulation and Legislation | Strategy | China | Mergers and Acquisitions | Yiyi JinHow can tax accountants, wealth managers, M&A brokers, and business owners extract the most value from personal goodwill? Tax court decisions (Bross Trucking, Inc., T.C. Memo. 2014-107, and Estate of Adell, T.C. Memo. 2014-155) have demonstrated that sale of personal goodwill as a distinct asset, separate from corporate goodwill, can provide significant tax advantages for individuals. However, the decisions also illustrate the need for a robust set of justification for the value of personal goodwill in order to withstand challenges.
POSTED BY Seth Cronin AT 12:26 P.M. Jul 25, 2018
TAGS: Trade Secrets | Valuation | Banking | Mergers and Acquisitions | Seth CroninA number of acquisitions have appeared in the food and beverage industry in the past several years, including Kraft and Heinz, JAB Holding and Keurig, and most recently the thwarted acquisition of Unilever by Kraft Heinz. Companies would be wise to not only assess the business landscape of potential consolidation in the industry, but consider the IP landscape and patent owner shifts if more of the largest food & beverage corporations merge.
POSTED BY Jeff Goodwin and Nancy Edwards Cronin AT 12:18 P.M. March 6, 2017
TAGS: Innovation | Nancy Edwards Cronin | Strategy | Jeff Goodwin | Mergers and AcquisitionsVerizon was recently informed by Yahoo, a company they inked a $4.8 billion purchase of back in July, that in 2014, Yahoo's servers were hacked and over 500 million Yahoo user accounts loaded with personal data were stolen. Now, various reports in the news are suggesting Verizon is going to ask for a $1 billion reduction in the price of the deal. It is in a business's own best interest to handle this data as it would any other intellectual property, i.e., as a very valuable asset.
POSTED BY Charles E. Root Jr. MS. AT 9:59 A.M. November 14, 2016
TAGS: Case Study | Valuation | Charles E. Root Jr. MS. | Data Security | Mergers and Acquisitions | BlockchainPOSTED BY Charles E. Root Jr. MS. AT 4:18 P.M. August 8, 2016
TAGS: Valuation | Charles E. Root Jr. MS. | Mergers and AcquisitionsThe case of DDMG is not unique; IP mismanagement is pervasive throughout the media and entertainment industry. For a number of reasons, companies often fail to recognize the value of their intellectual assets, and the business continues to move forward while the IP strategy does not. When companies start to consider IP in the face of a crisis, be it bankruptcy or an infringement lawsuit, it is too late to go back and reap the benefit of their creative thinking and innovation.
POSTED BY Nancy Edwards Cronin and Nathan Doudera AT 8:55 A.M. Oct 15, 2012
TAGS: Disruption | Entertainment | IAM | Nathan Doudera | Nancy Edwards Cronin | Strategy | Mergers and AcquisitionsAs a follow-up to the recent M&A post, this article examines common IP-related drivers of ROI, from the perspective of an investor, such as a private equity firm.
POSTED BY Adam Bulakowski AT 8:04 A.M. Jun 13, 2012
TAGS: Adam Bulakowski | Commercialization | Strategy | Valuation | Mergers and AcquisitionsInorganic growth strategies through M&A don’t always account for the potential of intangible assets. M&A teams that consider IP and other intangible assets both before and after a deal can improve success with more accurate pricing and more efficient value extraction.
POSTED BY Adam Bulakowski AT 8:35 A.M. Jun 7, 2012
TAGS: Adam Bulakowski | Commercialization | Strategy | Valuation | Mergers and Acquisitions