Over the last seven years, we have supported numerous investment decisions in companies where IP assets are a major component of value, by:

1. Supporting investors in the due diligence process (e.g., venture capital firms, individual investors, and research analysts); or
2. Supporting companies that seek investment (working directly with the company or with its investment bankers)

Investor support

If a significant part of the value of a potential investment is the intellectual property (IP), it is important for potential investors to understand how strong the IP is and whether it will hold up over time. Often, an investor will hire a law firm during the due diligence process, to ensure that there are no disputes over ownership of the patents that the company is claiming and to ensure that the company has been maintaining those patents properly. We go one step further and evaluate the patents, to ensure that they will be able to do what they are intended to do (i.e., that the patents keeps others from making similar products or solving similar customer needs).

Additionally, it is often the case that a company will be invested in because of its innovativeness and because investors believe that the company will continue to be as innovative in the future as it has been in the past. In our due diligence process, we examine the company’s innovation and IP development processes and look at the personal situations of the key inventors, to predict whether the company will continue to be innovative in the future.

Finally, based upon the investment criteria of the investor, we provide the investor with a short report that provides our recommendations about whether to invest and, if the investor chooses to invest, some recommendations for how to strengthen the IP of the company.

Frequently, we are asked to respond quickly and cost effectively to the needs of the investor, by conducting an ipDue Diligence^SM. We have found that CEOs and CFOs use this due diligence service in advance of a financial transaction, to ensure that they obtain the highest valuation.

Mergers and Acquisitions support

In the case of an M&A transaction, we can evaluate the IP of both parties and identify synergies that would strengthen the value of the transaction. Additionally, we can assess the innovation and IP development processes of both companies and recommend processes to ease integration, post M&A.

Companies That Seek Investment

Often, for companies that seek investment, we work either with the company directly or through the investment bankers to help strengthen the company’s position. Our work may include:

• Identifying potential investors and M&A targets
• Creating a patent map of the space (ipMining^SM and ipAnalytics^®), to see the other key players in the space and to make strategic insights, in terms of strengths and weaknesses
• Evaluating the strategic use of IP, to see whether it was developed efficiently
• Reading the patents, identifying the strength and weaknesses of the company’s IP, and helping the company develop IP, to strengthen its portfoliov
• Helping the company identify trade secrets that should be protected, before the company invites potential investors into the company
• Assessing the strength of the company’s IP processes and recommending ways to strengthen the processes
• Developing a presentation (ipStory^SM) that communicates the value of the IP, for example:
• If the IP is used to protect others from creating similar products, we explain how it does that, by talking about the claims, the market attributes, and the competitive IP covers; or
• If the IP is to be used for licensing, we talk about the strength of the IP and its various licensing opportunities

To obtain more information or discuss your unique challenges please contact us.