Support for the Patent Fee Integrity Act
Last week, California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced the “Patent Fee Integrity Act,” a bill that would prevent the diversion of user fees from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to general government accounts. Conversant supports this legislation. As we shared in an open letter to Senator Feinstein: We believe that strong, reasonable […]
Read more >Voicing concerns about patent reform
As the U.S. Senate considers new legislation aimed at curbing patent litigation abuses, voices are being raised in opposition. In February, a group of more than 150 businesses and organizations representing high-tech startups, independent inventors, and university researchers sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee co-chairs Senator Patrick Leahy and Charles Grassley urging caution lest […]
Read more >US Administration Takes Smart Steps to Strengthen the Patent System
In a recent blog post, I wrote about the growing numbers of state legislatures and attorneys general who are pushing for the use of consumer protection laws to curb the widespread extortion of small businesses by patent trolls. Now the White House has unveiled new initiatives to further curb patent litigation abuse and strengthen the […]
Read more >States Step Up Fight Against Patent Trolls
Not too long ago, if you talked to a U.S. senator or congressperson about innovation policy, the eyes of all but a few would glaze over at the first mention of the word “patents” — widely considered to be among the most boring subjects in the world. The topic generated even less interest from constituents […]
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Kodak learns a hard truth about patent valuation or: The worth of a thing is what it will bring
Mark Harris, writing in IEEE Spectrum, has an extremely well researched and insightful essay on The Lowballing of Kodak’s Patent Portfolio. Harris compares the difference between the selling price of 1,730 of Kodak’s patents and the much higher earlier valuation – the amount their consultants had told them to expect. As a Certified Patent Valuation […]
Read more >Google did not make a mistake with Motorola Mobility
You don’t have to look very far to find people who have characterized Google’s 2012 acquisition of Motorola Mobility and subsequent sale to Lenovo as a “mistake”: Associated Press: “An expensive mistake by Google could turn into a golden opportunity for China’s Lenovo Group” US News & World Report: “Google’s Big Bust: Motorola Mobility Sold […]
Read more >President Obama calls for patent reform in State of the Union address
If you blinked you missed it, but President Obama gave a flyby to patent-related legislation in his State of the Union speech this week. It was in a sentence that (to our ear) sounds like it was appended to a paragraph about innovation: “We know that the nation that goes all-in on innovation today will […]
Read more >Coffee Break: Patents that will not change the world in 2014
At Conversant, we license quality patents. In recent years our acquisitions team has assessed more than 600 patent portfolios comprising more than 130,000 patents. Yet after due diligence we have passed on all but a handful of these opportunities because they didn’t survive our comprehensive and rigorous analysis of infringement, validity, substantive patent prosecution issues, […]
Read more >Personality in Spades: is 2014 the year for Patent Licensing to take the stage?
Intellectual Asset Management Magazine has published its list of the Top 10 Intellectual Property Personalities of 2013. It’s important to note that the “personalities” are indeed a diverse (and prestigious!) cross-section of individuals, companies and even concepts (sovereign patent funds). Yes, Conversant made the list. And we’re in good company. IAM also recognized Rep. Bob […]
Read more >TIME Invention Poll – shedding light on innovation from a global perspective
Recently TIME magazine and Qualcomm published the results of a wide-reaching survey about invention and inventors. Over ten thousand people in 17 different markets were polled about a range of issues related to Imagination, innovation, and intellectual property. As an intellectual property officer, I see the TIME/Qualcomm poll is a fascinating deep-dive attempt to explore […]
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