Sector: Mobile Communications

The cover story of the current issue of IAM, published online for our subscribers last week, explores the complex attitudes that the Japanese corporate world has towards patent monetisation – and towards NPEs in particular.As has been documented…

09 April 2015

Last 5th November, James Bessen and Michael Meurer wrote an article for the Boston Globe in which they claimed that patent trolls sponsored by foreign governments were emerging as a serious threat to American businesses; and that this was another…

05 April 2015

Seoul-based Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of the Korean port city of Changwon that will see it share its patents and knowhow relating to liquefied natural gas (LNG)…

31 March 2015

An Indian mobile industry association last week submitted a report to the country’s government calling on regulators to rein in patent royalties being demanded of domestic handset makers by foreign companies, according to a story in the Economic…

30 March 2015

In February the standards setting organization the IEEE announced a number of significant changes to its patent policy – the terms which govern the licensing of a range of standard essential patents, particularly in the Wi-Fi space. Those changes…

24 March 2015

Last week’s news that Intellectual Ventures had signed a major licensing deal with Ford was undoubtedly good news for the firm. As I understand it, the transaction was completed after a painstaking negotiation that took place over a period years…

10 March 2015

We no longer think twice when we hear the CEO of a major Chinese tech company, when asked about future plans, launch into a discussion of patent portfolios and where they need to be made stronger. At least at the upper echelons of the corporate…

10 March 2015

Last week, this blog reported on Hon Hai (Foxconn) chairman Terry Guo’s suggestion that the company had been guilty of profligate patenting. Henceforth, he said, Hon Hai’s focus will be on filing fewer applications of higher quality.Speaking…

03 March 2015

A Texas jury decision to award damages of $533 million against Apple for infringing three patents owned by NPE Smartflash Technologies has rightly attracted a lot of headlines. It might be the world’s biggest company but a decision that may see the…

26 February 2015

We’re less than two months into 2015 and I have already made trips from the UK to the US and China. Along the way I have had a fair few conversations with various IP market participants about where things stand. The overall view is that change is…

24 February 2015