Wasted Maintenance Fees
Guest Authored by: Dan Buri, Sales Manager
Date : 11-13-2008
As the economic downturn continues, individual households have been forced to forego planned expenditures. It has been no different for businesses. Many companies have found themselves in similar new budget realities. Budget cuts and layoffs have become a common theme recently in the business world. For many companies, reducing patent maintenance fees is a less obvious way of decreasing expenses.
For those companies qualifying for small entity status, the maintenance fee schedule for a patent issuing today will run about $4,000 for a single patent--$490 at 3.5 years, $1240 at 7.5 years, and $2,055 at 11.5 years. Few organizations, however, have the small entity luxury of discounted patent fees. The standard maintenance fee for a patent issuing today is more than $7,500 over the life of the patent--$980 at 3.5 years, $2,480 at 7.5 years, and $4,110 at 11.5 years. With many experts estimating that between 10 to 35 percent of any company’s patent portfolio is non-core, the maintenance fee savings can be significant. In fact, if you take into account foreign filings, maintenance fees can account for 2/3 of a patent’s overall cost.
While your company is looking at budget cuts, it may make sense to review the patents on which you are currently paying maintenance fees. You may find patents that are not core to your business—and letting them expire can save you considerable funds. Alternatively, you may find that your non-core patents hold significant value for another company. In this case, a patent sale may be a valuable option. A simple patent house cleaning could not only end up saving a significant amount of money in maintenance fees for your company, but may even bring in important unexpected revenue.
Flash of Genius: Lessons Learned from Robert Kearns
Guest Authored by: Andrew Godsey, VP Sales
Date : 11-02-2008
I am consistently impressed with the modern-day inventors GTT represents. While GTT’s patent brokerage clients are generally large or mid-size companies, a significant portion of GTT’s clientele represent the classic inventor. These inventors immediately came to mind as “Flash of Genius”, the story of Robert Kearns, was released in movie theaters last month.
Robert Kearns was the inventor of intermittent windshield wipers (patent numbers: 3,351,836; 3,602,790 and 4,544,870). After an unsuccessful attempt to license the technology to the “Big Three”, Kearns went on to sue Ford and Chrysler for patent infringement. The case eventually ended up being reviewed by the Supreme Court. Kearn’s uphill legal battle lasted from 1978 to 1995 and cost him approximately $10M in legal fees but eventually netted him around $30M in damages.
There are a few thoughts I take away from the story of Robert Kearns:
- There is a market now that wasn’t there 40, 20, or even 10 years ago. Transferring patents has become incredibly common. Most major corporations have staff and processes in place dedicated to reviewing intellectual property acquisitions. Were Robert Kearns around today, he would have many more options available to him that could have alleviated some of the costs associated with his battle against Ford and Chrysler. Which leads me to a second thought....
- If Kearns would have known that his litigation would last nearly 20 years, cost $10M and take the toll on his professional/personal life that it did, would he have still chosen to litigate?
- How would Kearns’ case have held up in light of KSR (KSR v. Teleflex)? Given that the primary legal defense against Kearns in the Ford case was that his patent was obvious, would the verdict have changed today?
Every day GTT advises its inventor clientele on the best path forward and gives solid advice on likely monetization outcomes regarding their patent assets.
Selling to NPEs
Guest Authored by: Dan Buri, Sales Manager
Date : 10-01-2008
There has been some recent buzz about the WSJ article on Nathan Myhrvold’s firm Intellectual Ventures. “Tech Guru Riles the Industry by Seeking Huge Patent Fees”-
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122161127802345821.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
The reaction in the industry has been mixed. With patent asset sales being one of our core services, this article does not go unnoticed at GTT.
Whenever we market and sell a patent portfolio, we give our clients complete access to every step of the process and ask for their input at all critical stages. One way in which we keep our clients intimately involved in the process is that GTT always gets approval before contacting a potential purchaser. Many clients strive for the most competitive bidding environment they can find, which would most certainly involve contacting all non-practicing entities (NPEs) that have interest. Some clients, however, desire to not market to NPEs and we honor these desires.
Continued investment into companies like IV is a good indication of the strength of the patent monetization market. With each patent portfolio sale, GTT strives to create the most competitive bidding environment possible. Our foremost goal, however, is to dutifully serve our clients. If this means refraining from contacting NPEs, we honor our clients’ desires.
New Google Application
Guest Authored by: Andrew Godsey, VP Sales
Date : 09-29-2008
Here at GTT, our daily involvement in the transferring and valuation of patents gives us valuable insight into technology trends.
Last week a Google application was published at the USPTO titled “Flexible Communication Systems and Methods”, which essentially allows smartphone users to force mobile operators to compete for their services.
The application allows for devices to operate on a variety of networks. When a mobile device has a need for a service (e.g. Wi-Fi, WiMax, cellular, etc.), a listing of the service providers and their prices are sent to the device for the user to decide which service to use, giving the consumer more power over their provider source as well as providing price competition in the market.
This technology will create an environment that is in stark contrast to current provider operations. In the US, there are relatively few telecommunication service providers and it may take some time for the invention to have a substantial impact unless a user has multiple Wi-Fi hotspot choices. On a global level the invention should have a more immediate impact, for example, in Europe where users have to regularly switch between networks as they travel between countries.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10052709-94.html?tag=mncol
Object Oriented Programming Patent Portfolio
Portfolio available soon!
Date : 09-03-2008
GTT will begin marketing the much-anticipated “Object Oriented Programming Patent Portfolio” in the near future. We are very excited about this patent portfolio and have already received pre-marketing interest. The portfolio includes claims relating to mainstream object oriented programming languages, development platforms for such languages, modern web browsers and web servers. This programming is widely used today in both desktop and Internet applications.
Object oriented development platforms are used to create the majority of popular websites, including Adobe’s Dreamweaver and Microsoft’s Visual Studio. The patents each claim an early priority date for the state of the art. Much of the development in web-based object oriented programming came in years subsequent to the priority date of the patents in this portfolio, strengthening the claims.
GTT is excited to bring this portfolio to market. If you would like to receive material about the “Object Oriented Programming Patent Portfolio” at the time of its release, please contact Andrew Godsey at agodsey@gttgrp.com.
Strategic Patent Acquisition
An integral part of your litigation defense
Date : 08-05-2008
GTT has always been doing work in this area, whether our clients were looking for additional operational freedom or fending off patent litigation. Lately, we have been working on an educational campaign to provide counsel with awareness as to the benefit of patent acquisition strategy as a required tool to bring litigation to conclusion and even to prevent litigation from ever happening. Many corporate counsels and in-house patent managers have asked us when should they contact GTT regarding patent acquisition. I have always answered this question with a simple answer: if your objective is to minimize expense, then contact us when you first identify the potential issue. Obviously, if we can put out the fire before it starts, the client avoids the litigation associated expenses and potential business threat. However, even if the matter has entered litigation, we can assist to limit or end the business threat.
Similarly, many clients have asked us how to deploy a patent acquisition strategy related to non-practicing entities. GTT has developed a unique strategy related to such situations. If you are further interested we can discuss in additional detail and determine whether GTT is in a position to assist.
Challenges in Patent Valuation
Is patent valuation part of your IP transaction process??
Date : 06-02-2008
Innovators around the world are giving up assets without doing proper valuation, creating a competitive market or discovering relevant purchasers. The seller that does not examine value prior to selling will leave significant "money on the table". Similarly, purchasers struggle to ascertain the price they should offer for patent assets.
GTT Launches New Website
Date : 05-15-2008
GTT is proud to announce the launch of our new website. We worked with a local creative firm to conceptualize and develop a sleek, modern look that reflects the growth of our firm and evolution of our brand. This site is designed to provide greater client convenience by making industry news, our patent portfolios, and communications more readily accessible.
Please visit often, as we will be making regular updates to our CEO Blog, Portfolio, Events, and News sections.