Evolution of IP Deals from Simple Licenses to Complex Portfolio Sales and M&A will be a Focus at LES Conference
The rapid evolution of patent transactions will be the focus of a presentation and discussion at the LES North America meeting in Toronto, Canada.
Patents have fared best among IP as financial assets, and today can be leveraged in different ways. Invention rights played a critical role in Google’s acquisition of Motorola ($12.5 billion, 17,000 patents, 6,000 applications) and in Nortel’s bankruptcy sale to the Rockstar Consortium for $4.5 billion. Buyers included Apple, Microsoft, Ericsson, RIM, Sony and EMC.
Patents have certainly played a part in the smart phone wars, with some of the largest 
damages awards granted in this area. (See Apple v. Samsung.)
The evolving role of patent transactions, or “Patent Transactions in Transition,” will be the focus of a workshop moderated by IP CloseUp’s Bruce Berman (of Brody Berman Associates) at the Licensing Executives Society annual meeting on Tuesday, October 16 at 2:00. It’s session 3E. The LES meeting this year is being held at the Sheraton Centre Hotel, 123 Queen Street West.
Panelists will include Myron Kassaraba, partner, Pluritas, LLC, one of the leading patent transaction firms; Dan Henry, Senior Vice President, Business Development, WiLAN (NYSE:WILN), a publicly held IP licensing business; and Sanjiv Samant, Managing Director, Technology, for Canaccord Genuity (TSX:CF, LSE:CF), a global full-service investment bank.
This year’s LES attendees are invited to attend what should prove to be a timely session. Lively panel and audience q&a is expected.
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