Gametime IP
RPX
Spring Cleaning Time At Patent Monetization Firms
Spring brought us news of several patent monetization firms cleaning house, sometimes entirely, which is the case of Altitude Capital and the deal it struck between wholly owned Digitude and RPX. Rumors that Rembrandt IP will soon be shutting its doors continue to swirl, while its former Managing Director Phil Hartstein heads for IP Navigation to … Continue reading
Digitude Patent Monetization Effort Bombs – RPX Picks Up The Carcass
RPX announced “its largest syndicated transaction to date with the participation of more than 10 RPX clients.” According to the release, “RPX will invest approximately $46 million of its own capital in the transaction” resulting in the transfer of 500 patents and “sub-license rights” currently owned by Digitude and Digitude subsidiary Preservation Technologies, companies originally … Continue reading
Patent Monetization – What, Who and How
I’m on the road this morning, and will be giving a lecture tomorrow on the basics of Patent Monetization to the Toledo Intellectual Property Law Association Spring Seminar. I’d like to publicly thank TIPLA President Ray Meiers of Emerson Thomson Bennett for inviting me to speak. More information about the Spring Seminar is available from … Continue reading
Return Of The Bubble: Patent Sellers Put Acacia Back On Their Christmas Card List
When patent aggregator RPX debuted with more than a billion dollar valuation, they warned us a bubble was coming. When Rockstar Bidco paid $4.5 B to acquire an aging Nortel portfolio, and Google paid $12 B just to (allegedly) gut a company’s patents, they told us there was no bubble. Then, on January 13, 2012, … 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
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
ICAP Continues To Struggle For Live Patent Auction Relevance
ICAP concluded its most recent live patent auction last week with underwhelming results. The auction featured more than 190 total lots, but the vast majority were offered only through ‘sealed’ bids. According to sources, the live auction concluded with just three completed sales out of 29 lots, with total sales volume well short of $2 … Continue reading
RPX Secondary Offering Seeks Another $60M
RPX Corporation (RPXC) announced pricing of a 3,000,000 share follow-on offering at $20.49 per share. RPX offers about 1.4 M shares itself with the rest coming from stockholders. The offering price represents a 15% discount from it’s opening price at $24.10. Trading spiked this morning, landing RPX on Nasdaq’s unusual volume list. Coincidentally, top officials … Continue reading
Patent Owners ‘Fleeing’ RPX Acquisition Model
As I’ve predicted before, patent owners are reportedly “fleeing” RPX in favor of ICAP’s new Covenant Not to Sue (“CNS”) program. RPX may not be dead quite yet, but ICAP has their shovels out, ready to lend a hand digging RPX’s grave. Not even with a free 100-roll pack of toilet paper thrown in does the RPX “wholesale club” pricing model present value to most patent owners, and their main claim to value-add–aggregation–is absolutely prohibited under ICAP’s bidding rules. Continue reading
RPX Issues Second Quarter Results And Comments On The ‘Patent Bubble’
Patent aggregator RPX’s second quarter results showed $38.8 MM in revenue and total equity increasing to $250 MM. According to its earnings forecast, RPX expects to see about $150 MM in total revenue this year. RPX also commented on the Nortel auction and the effects of any reported “patent bubble.” Continue reading
