Gametime IP
Patent infringement
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
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
Augme Patent Case To Be Set For Trial – Board Member Don Stout Credits Patent Licensing As Key To Advancing Young Operating Companies
Augme Technologies‘ 2007 lawsuit against AOL may finally go to trial after a nearly five-year delay. Last week, Judge Colleen McMahon of New York’s Southern District ordered Augme Technologies and AOL, opposing parties in a 2007 patent infringement lawsuit, to advise the court of anything the parties need prior issuing a Joint Pre-Trial Order–a key … Continue reading
Should Yahoo! Settle Its Patent Dispute With Facebook Now?
Following the ouster of (now former) CEO Scott Thompson, pundits predictably called upon interim CEO Ross Levinsohn to put an end to the Facebook lawsuit. Unfortunately, the facts likely dictate otherwise. First, Yahoo completely miscalculated Facebook’s willingness and ability to fight. (Seriously, Yahoo? You’ve been sued for patent infringement, what, about 100 times? And you … Continue reading
Another Smart Move From Microsoft’s Patent Licensing Group
This past September, Canadian patent licensing company MOSAID acquired 400 patent families from Nokia through a purchase of Core Wireless S.a.r.l. The purchase netted MOSAID 2000 total patents, of which more than 1200 are reportedly “standards essential” for 2G, 3G and 4G wireless standards. MOSAID claims that “it made no upfront payments to acquire the … Continue reading
Renewed Interest In Patent Investment Affects RPX Valuation
Joff Wild over at the IAM Blog recently reported an upgrade in RPX’s rating from Barclays Capital from 2-EW to 1-OW, citing “secular sustainable growth” of the IP sector. Barclays’ briefing paper cites the growth of patent litigation as one of the “key data” supporting its analysis. While Joff accurately notes that I previously “questioned … Continue reading
Multi-party Patent Enforcement Post-AIA
Patent reform’s most significant change may have been embedded in one of the least talked-about provisions. When President Obama signed AIA into law this past September, a provision immediately took effect banning the practice joining more than one company in the same lawsuit unless all were responsible for producing or selling “the same accused product … Continue reading
RPX’s View Of ‘Rational’ Patent Pricing
RPX published its third quarter results earlier this month, and provided a sneak-peak look into its patent pricing model. Specifically, CEO John Amester reiterated his statement from the second quarter press conference that a patent pricing ‘bubble’ has yet to materialize, despite above market bids for portfolios like Nortel. In fact, Amester specifically commented that the … Continue reading
Survival Of The ‘Micro-Entity’ IP Licensing Model
The economic value of an IP licensing business model derives fundamentally from the incremental and relative value a particular piece of proprietary technology contributes to a product or market. In some cases, the technology represents a product in itself, but more often the technology represents a portion or improvement to an existing product. I refer to … Continue reading
