Gametime IP
IP Asset
Rensselaer Exclusive Licensee Enforces Natural Language Processing Patent Against Apple’s Siri
On October 19th, a Texas-based company sued Apple over US Patent 7,177,798. Assignment records indicate the ’798 Patent is owned by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and court documents state that Dynamic Advances, LLC is the “exclusively licensee” for the ’798 and “facilitates Rensselaer’s goal of commercializing its patented inventions to the benefit of the general public and to further … Continue reading
When CFO’s Are On Board, You Know The IP Asset Class Has A Real Future
Becton Dickinson made a surprising announcement today. From the press release: David V. Elkins, 44, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, has informed the Company of his plans to pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity at Round Rock Research, LLC, a technology licensing company, serving as its CFO. Yes, that Round Rock Research. The one formed … Continue reading
Is Charles River Licensing British Telecom Patents To Fund German Investment Accounts?
Little more than one year ago, GametimeIP reported that a German investment fund acquired a substantial portfolio from British Telecom: According to a press release issued yesterday, the German patent fund Patentportfolio 2 S.a.r.l. acquired 400 patent assets from publicly held BT Group PLC. The group is funded by the German investment fund Alpha Patentfronds 2, and strategic … Continue reading
Cisco Pays $36 M To License Acacia Patents Acquired From Philips, J2 And Two Start-ups
Last month, Acacia reported in its second quarter earnings that 72% of its revenue for, or $36 M, came from a single licensee. (See A Tale Of 2 Quarters – Acacia Research Illustrates Patent Play Volatility). During a telephone conversation with Paul Ryan, he explained that revenue concentrations can occur when companies license multiple Acacia … Continue reading
Google Helps Patent Enforcement Companies With New ‘Infringement Finder’
In a rare move, given their previous disdain for intellectual property owners, Google released new enhancements to the free Google Patents search engine to help patent owners–along with lawyers, analysts and advisors–identify and investigate potential patent infringement. To avoid potential backlash from a community of activists that have rallied around the search advertising giant, Google … Continue reading
Acacia Q2 2012 Earnings Report Reveals 5% Of Deals Contribute To 85% Of Revenue
A detailed analysis of Acacia’s second quarter earnings is available at A Tale Of Two Quarters – Acacia Research Illustrates Patent Play Volatility. While the patent licensing firm posted $50 M in revenue, and nearly $150 M in the first six months of 2012, details of Acacia’s 10-Q show that once you exclude their 4 … Continue reading
Patent Scholars Challenge Bessen & Meurer’s Bogus $29 B NPE Costs Figure
In a paper published on July 25, 2012 (available from SSRN), Chicago-area scholars David Schwartz and Jay Kesan challenge a study by Boston University professors James Bessen and Michael Meurer, which claimed that patent litigation generated by so-called “non-practicing entities” imposes direct costs of $29 B. Intellectual Ventures’ Peter Detkin and Patentology’s Mark Summerfield already … Continue reading
Do NPE’s “Cost” Us $29 B? Intellectual Ventures Co-Founder Peter Detkin Sets The Record Straight
The BBC ran another article in a tired meme about evil patent owners supposedly “costing” billions per year. Of course, the article doesn’t specify who supposedly bore this $29 B “cost” or how it was calculated, but instead cites a Boston University paper by Professors James Bessen and Michael Meurer. According to the BBC article, … Continue reading
Patent Plays In Focus At Seeking Alpha: InterDigital, Nokia, Augme And Others
Some readers may already have noticed a recent series of articles posted to the investor-focused website Seeking Alpha focusing on companies that either currently, formerly, or prospectively will, derive most of their revenue from patent monetization. (In fact, the first series of articles includes at least one of each.) These so-called “patent plays” form an … Continue reading
LML Payment Systems Wraps Up Patent Monetization Effort
LML Payment Systems (NASDAQ:LMLP) hired McKool Smith to enforce its payment processing patents against the giants of the financial industry. That effort wrapped up earlier this year, and with the patents expiring in January 2013, the company announced it had no plans to initiate any further monetization efforts. As I reported on Seeking Alpha: Since … Continue reading
