Posted by ipeg on June 15th, 2010
I never met an inventor who didn’t want to know the value of his inventions. Accounting rules allow intangible assets to be recorded on balance sheets at their ‘highest and best uses’. The highest and best use of inventions is typically to license the invention to a company capable of delivering products that incorporate the invention to the market. Licensing typically yields a higher value than using related patents to ensure freedom of operation, blocking competitors, or removing a technology from the market in order...
Posted by ipeg on December 17th, 2009
The recent European Commission decision on Rambus’ alleged antitrust behavior provides interesting insights in what royalty rates offered by Rambus can be regarded as “fair”, “reasonable” and “non-discriminatory”. The antitrust proceedings dealt with the licensing behavior of Rambus Inc. after the adoption of the DDR RAM industry standard by JEDEC. To implement the instructions of the DDR RAM standard, Rambus’ technologies – which are included in this standard – are essential. …
Posted by ipeg on October 8th, 2009
Over the years patent build up could go without repercussions for the patent “market”. Let us say the market for supply and demand for patent rights. Initially, during the 1980s and early 1990s this was because Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean companies took licenses from European and US patent owners. Then the Korean powerhouses came up, well placed to take over the consumer electronics market but low on IP. Taiwan had its own policy but was not afraid of buying strategically, be it a lot less then Korean companies. ...
Posted by ipeg on August 24th, 2009
How come licensing by European companies is largely lagging behind the US? A March 2009 OECD Study on licensing practice by European and Japanese patent holders tells the story. Zuniga and Guellec published a their study [1], “Who Licenses out Patent and Why?” using the outcome of the OECD survey (done in 2007). 600 European companies, 1.600 Japanese companies have been surveyed by the researchers from OECD, EPO and University of Tokyo. Overall, the study finds that approx. 20%[2] of European companies holding patents license...
