Tag Archives: finance

Pre-IPO Snap, with $25B valuation, paid $9M for 245 IBM patents

February 13, 2017 by Bruce Berman 0 Comments

A soft market for patent licensing has not stopped the right patent portfolio from commanding a respectable price from the right buyer – at the right time.   

Snap, the corporate parent of Snapchat, reported recently in its S-1 pre-IPO filing that it had acquired a strategic patent portfolio from IBM, according to PatentVue, the data-focused IP blog.

In a well-researched post, PatentVue reports that approximately 245 of Snap’s 328 issued patents have been purchased from IBM.

“While the terms of its patent acquisition from IBM were not made ibmpublic,” says Maulin Shah, Managing Partner of Envision IP, “and with no mention of this patent transfer in the S-1, it appears that Snap may have paid roughly $9-10 million for the 245 patents and 207 pending US patent applications from IBM.

Excluding the patent applications, this means roughly $36-40k per patent.

Twitter acquired 945 patents from IBM in 2014 for a reported $36 million, in an effort to settle patent infringement claims brought against it by the technology giant. This comes out to approximately $38k per patent, again, excluding patent applications.

Similar Strategies

“Snap and Twitter’s patenting strategy at this point appear to be very similar,” concludes Shah, “with the vast majority of both portfolios predominately made up of acquired patents from IBM.”

The current IAM magazine features an article, “Big Blue’s new groove,” which examines IBM’s evolving patent strategy, and lists 34 patent and portfolio sales Big Blue has made between 2014 and 2016. Buyers include LinkedIn, Hulu, snap-ipo-riskRed Hat, Global Foundries and Lenovo. IAM subscribers can find the article here.

Snap, Snapchat’s parent, expects to raise approximately $3 billion from an initial public offering this spring. Despite a $25 billion valuation, Snap lost $514 million last year.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others all sought patent portfolios before they went public, in part to justify their valuation, and perhaps because they had the cash to justify the instant leverage provided by a meaningful portfolio.

Today, patents’ more abstract M&A or financial transaction value can be more meaningful that its direct licensing or revenue-generating value.

The PatentVue post, can be found here. The blog’s original coverage of Snap’s mobile messaging patent acquisition, here.

Image source: computerweekly.com; techcrunch.com

News, Research, Transactions, Uncategorized
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IP Dealmakers’ event Nov. 17-18 will focus on new opportunities; IP CloseUp readers can save $200

October 27, 2016 by Bruce Berman 0 Comments

IP Dealmakers Forum is one of the more anticipated IP events of the year, especially for those engaged in patent licensing, sales, and M&A transactions. It also of signficant interest to investors. 

This year‘s event will feature a new track, Dealmaker Deep Dives, a shorter, more targeted discussions with experts taking an in-depth perspective on a specific set of issues. Each session includes extended time at the end for Q&A so the audience can really take advantage of the speakers’ expertise.

IP CloseUp readers go here for a promo code that provides a $200 discount.

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Seizing Opportunities

“With the doom and gloom over patent licensing, the last couple of years we wanted to make sure the event was addressing the many new opportunities in the market,” said Forum director Wendy Chou, “In conversations with our board of advisers, past attendees and current IP holders, we were able to identify transaction areas that are being overlooked.”

Session titles include:

       – Seizing Opportunities to Invest in China’s Developing IP Market

       – Defining the IP Landscape in IoT: Strategy, Standards & Licensing

      – Trade Secrets — What IP Investors Need to Know

There also will be a panel on “efficient infringement,” a timely topic that grew out of attendee conversations during Q&A last year. The session is called:

Building a Better IP Market: Efficient Transactions vs. Efficient Infringement

  • A look at past attempts and business models
  • What does an efficient IP market look like?
  • Identifying challenges to progress

In terms of format, IP Dealmakers Forum (IPDF) has moved from all panel discussions to a mix of panels with patent holders, deal experts and investors taking an in-depth perspective. In 2016, as in past years, there is a strong lineup of speakers with a diverse mix of senior executives representing corporations, licensing companies, public and private market investors, law firms and other strategic advisors.

One-to-Ones

Face-to-face meetings continue to be a highly utilized aspect of the event, where attendees can schedule 30 minute sessions with one or more other attendees at any time during the event. A total of more than 425 meetings were scheduled over the past two IPDF, and the producers expect an even better response in 2016.

The IP Dealmakers Forum is organized by The IP Investment Institute, LLC and its partners Wendy Chou and Eric Salvarezza.

For the full IPDF agenda, go here.

To register, go here. There are still some remaining seats.

IP Marketplace

The IP Dealmakers Forum explores the challenges and opportunities in the changing IP marketplace. Lack of IP transaction data, information, and transparency pose serious challenges to market efficiency. However, they can create opportunities for investors who know how to leverage news, manage risks and connect with the right players.

IPDF attracts senior IP market participants from the finance, legal and business communities.

Image source: ipdealmakersforum.com

Events, News, People, Transactions, Uncategorized
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Vision meets commerce is focus of the 50th LES annual meeting in NY

September 9, 2015 by Bruce Berman 0 Comments

Big Ideas: The Intersection of Innovation & Business is the theme of  this years Licensing Executives Society annual meeting to be held in New York, October 25-28.

Speakers from  Google, GE Ventures, J&J, Columbia Technology Ventures and Samsung will participate in the plenaries at this year’s 50th anniversary meeting at the Marriott Marquis.

Plenary Session – “Big Money is Back”

A cross industry panel of experts will explore and discuss how the changing financial climate is impacting innovation. There is money out there so, what are stakeholders doing and how is investment and licensing shaping innovation?

Speakers:
Orin Herskowitz, Executive Director, Columbia Technology VenturesVice President for Intellectual Property & Technology Transfer, Adjunct Professor, Columbia Business and Engineering Schools (Moderator)
Sang Ahn, Managing Director, Global Innovation Center, Samsung Electronics
Patrick Patnode, General Counsel, GE Ventures and Healthymagination
James Sledzik, Energy Ventures US, Inc.

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*****

IP CloseUp’s Bruce Berman will be moderating a panel on Tuesday October 27, at 3:45 focusing on patent quality.

“Defining Patent Quality – Distinguishing Between Validity, Value and Invention Quality”

Patent quality has become more than a simple black or white definition of validity. Patent quality is often in the eye of the beholder. Some believe there is an inevitable market component or need associated with patent quality, which affects its defensive, licensing and sales value. This workshop will look at the changing definition of patent quality and the role that the PTAB and recent decisions like Alice have played. The workshop also will examine the influence of market forces like demand on patent quality and in distinguishing patent quality from value.

Speakers:
Bruce Berman, Brody Berman Associates (Moderator)
Julia Elvidge, President, Chipworks
Christi Guerrini, Baylor College of Medicine; University of Houston Law Center
Sean Reilly, Askeladden. L.L.C./ the Clearing House Payments Company

Christi Guerrini is the author of a provocative paper on patent quality, “Defining Patent Quality.” She teaches ethics as Baylor College of Medicine Center for Medical Ethics and is a Fellow at the University of Houston Law Center; Julia Elvidge heads one of the leading patent analysis firms, and Sean Reilly, is General Counsel and director of IP strategy for Askeladden, LLC and The Clearing House. He is also chief strategist of the Patent Quality Initiative. TCH members are many of the largest banks in the world.

Be sure to stop by on Tuesday afternoon for what promises to be a thought-provoking panel.

For the full meeting agenda, including more than 50 workshops and special events, go here.

To register online, go here.

*****

Lawrence (Larry) J. Udell, inventor, lecturer and creator of more than 40 new ventures, has been named the 2015 Frank Barnes Mentor Award recipient by the Licensing Executives Society (USA & Canada), Inc. The award will be presented during the Society’s upcoming Annual Meeting in New York.

Mr. Udell has been an active member of the Licensing Executives Society since 1982 and is the founder and chairman emeritus of the Silicon Valley Chapter of LES www.les-svc.org. He also resurrected the San Francisco Chapter five years ago. He is the founder and chairman of the California Invention Center (1995) www.CaliforniaInventionCenter.org. Mr. Udell is associated with several Hall of Fame inventors, including James Ferguson (he developed the LCD or Light Crystal Display) and Forrest Bird (portable ventilator).

Image source: lesusacanada.org

Events, News, People
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