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 SalesThis post is the first in a series talking about the basics of intellectual property. Intellectual property, specifically, consists of those rights associated with knowledge and creation, not land and buildings (real property) or physical things (personal property/chattel). In this first post, the various types of intellectual property will be discussed.
POSTED BY Chris Huffines AT 8:18 P.M. Sep 4, 2018
TAGS: Chris Huffines | Invention | Trade SecretsHow 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 CroninOn Thursday May 11th, ipCapital Group held its 13th Annual Thought Leadership Conference, bringing together innovation and intellectual property (IP) leaders from around the world in the picturesque Essex Resort & Spa in Northwest Vermont. This year’s conference theme was Effective Innovation - Transforming Ideas into High-Value IP.
POSTED BY ipCG Team AT 8:45 A.M. May 31, 2017
TAGS: ipCG Team | IAM | Innovation | John Cronin | Strategy | Trade Secrets | ValuationThe Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) of 2016 was signed into law on May 11th, adding national and international protection for trade secrets to the already-existing state-level laws, which are allowed to remain in place according to the new federal statute. The DTSA taken together with the AIA’s prior use protections, provides 2-part protection, which may allow a company to continue to use its trade secreted inventions even if another entity subsequently patents the invention. This new paradigm is a game-changer for IP strategy - especially for defense, as it adds another route for IP protection outside the usual "race to the patent office".
POSTED BY Bill Petrow and Jeff Goodwin AT 12:51 P.M. May 13, 2016
TAGS: America Invents Act (AIA) | Regulation and Legislation | Strategy | Trade Secrets | Bill Petrow | Jeff GoodwinWould a patent really be an effective way to protect your IP? Owning a patent might actually work against your interests by disseminating your proprietary information. Enter trade secrets.
POSTED BY Bruce Story and Bill Petrow AT 1:45 P.M. Feb 4, 2015
TAGS: Bruce Story | Process | Strategy | Trade Secrets | Bill PetrowIf you are like most technology managers, you know you have trade secrets in the organization, but you don't know what they are. You know you have to protect "them" from loss, but what are "they"?
The protecting phase includes the legal processes for creating a patent application, filing in the appropriate jurisdiction and prosecuting the application through to the grant of the patent.
Is your company planning to layoff employees in response to a tougher economic environment? Do you have a process for preventing valuable intellectual assets from walking out the door along with your exiting employees?