Features
To maximise investors’ return in financial transactions, value from all types of asset involved should be recognised and unlocked. When patents represent a meaningful portion of a financial transaction, a deal can be advantageously structured to reap that value
The IP market has never been more fluid, so there was plenty to discuss for the close to 700 delegates from over 30 jurisdictions who gathered for the eighth IPBC Global, held at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco from June 14 to 16. Patent reform and a series of unhelpful court decisions are driving greater numbers of players to look more closely at alternatives to the US market in Europe and Asia; while transactions are on the rise, with signs that prices might soon start going up. Company boards are increasingly looking at intellectual property, but may not yet have a proper handle on value and strategy. All this and a lot more was debated over the three days of another highly successful event
The IP Hall of Fame is a select group of individuals who have made an indelible mark on IP law and practice. Here we introduce the five people inducted to this elite club in 2015
Global patent filings continue to grow; but the rate at which applications and granted patents are abandoned may provide more meaningful insights into the way in which these myriad assets are being used – or not used – by their owners
Patent assertions, razor-thin margins and intensified competition from mainland China mean that times are tougher than ever for Taiwanese companies. But the island’s massive IP arsenal could offer salvation
When it comes to leveraging statistical data in order to hone strategy, in-house IP departments can learn a lot from the world of sport
The software industry is still grappling with the impact of the US Supreme Court’s decision in Alice v CLS Bank. But India’s IT heavyweights, well accustomed to a high patentability bar for computer-related inventions, see more opportunities than challenges ahead
While US lawmakers consider legislative reform of the patent system, the LES Standards initiative has been launched with the intention of bringing conscientious self-regulation to the IP transactions marketplace
The Indian government hopes that its draft IP rights policy can provide a boost to innovation in the country
Columns
June and July have been busy months for the committees implementing the unitary patent and the Unified Patent Court (UPC). The fee structures for each are emerging, the latest draft of the UPC Rules of Procedure has been published and Italy has announced that it will embrace both the unitary patent and the UPC
A portrait of 19 important 19th century inventors that hangs in the neo-classical former US Patent and Trademark Office, now the National Portrait Gallery, foretells the future as much as it documents the past
Businesses need to develop leakage prevention strategies to halt the flow of value from their intangible assets
Since the Supreme Court’s decision in the Alice case, lower courts have increasingly focused on eligibility issues under Section 101 of the patent statute. This is unfortunate and damaging
Industry insight
Businesses can reduce the risk of missing out on IP value by outsourcing key functions to specialists, writes Jason Resnick
Data centre
A selection of key IP facts and figures, as reported by IAM and other sources
Insights
A round-up of IP-related quotes, observations and opinions from the recent past …
While legislators and the courts conspire to make life ever harder for patent owners in the United States, across the Atlantic imminent changes are taking the narrative in the opposite direction. This all means that Europe has a historic opportunity to assume global patent leadership
