The Paris Convention is one of the first international intellectual property treaty formed between numerous countries. The Paris Convention was signed in the year 1883 in Paris, France by eleven countries. Presently, the Paris Convention has 177 countries as contracting parties. The Paris Convention applies to all intellectual property rights such as patents, trademark, copyright, industrial desig... »
Intellectual property (IP) and intangible asset (IA) issues abound throughout the business world, touching nearly all aspects of a company, from product development to human capital, and staff functions such as legal, accounting, finance to line operations such as R&D, marketing and general management. This wide diversity of IP applications and stakeholders is a leading contributor to the comp... »
High-quality protection of intellectual property (IP) is a crucial factor for companies to succeed in today’s competitive world. IP and intellectual property rights (IPR) such as patents, designs, trade secret rights and copyrights have during recent decades garnered increasing attention, and IP has become an important way to gain a competitive advantage in many industries. This has also led to an... »
The phrase “patent valuation” simply refers to the act of having an attorney or non-attorney business person look over your patent portfolio with the purpose of determining what kind of value, if any, it holds. Oftentimes, per the 97% figure above, this practice produces results that entrepreneurs won’t find favorable. However, there’s no way to know whether you’re in the 97% or the 3% witho... »
Maritz is in the business of designing employee incentive plans and other reward programs. The company’s U.S. Patent No. 7,134,087 claims a computer system for using “award points” to purchase goods at a regular store by using a “shadow credit card.” cxLoyalty is a competitor — focusing primarily on customer loyalty. Their creepy motto: “we increase customer lifetime value.” ... »
Technological advancements inevitably have an impact on businesses, that need to adapt in order to survive new challenges and competitors.It goes without saying that patent management — as a key component of many businesses — should also be proactive and accommodate market changes.In recent years, in fact, IP experienced a shift from a mere legal matter to a... »
Kilpatrick Townsend’s Jeff Gendzwill recently gave a presentation on the topic of “Patent Monetization: Options in Patent Sales.” Patents rights and protections are an important part of any company’s IP portfolio. But even after they have been acquired, patents can be costly in light of the various maintenance fees due in most countries Because such fees can quickly add up, it may be worth co... »
Patent portfolios are valuable assets that can provide important leverage to supplement the revenue-generating activities of an organisation. However, developing programmes to realise value through the monetisation of patent assets can be challenging, time-consuming and bring uncertain outcomes. Building organisation strategies around aligning goals, curating and optimising the patent portfolio an... »
A patent owner that wants to sell their patents faces buyers that are looking more closely at the strength of the patent offering. For a seller to maximize their return, they should plan on doing more work ahead of an offering to entice buyers. As a first step, it is important to understand who your buyers will be so that offerings are tailored to the target audience. Is the buyer a patent ass... »
The U.S. Supreme Court’s KSR decision has left an impression that any claimed invention based on a combination of known, related features is likely obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103. The recent Fox Factory, Inc. v. SRAM, LLC (Fed. Cir. May 18, 2020) decision is a heartening reminder that is not always the case. In Fox Factory, the Federal Circuit affirmed a Board holdin... »