News broke after the market closed yesterday that Blackberry Smartphone-maker Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) had engaged bankers to assist in a strategic review of business and financial performance. This announcement came as part of a business update warning shareholders of an upcoming first-quarter operating loss.

Referencing recent billion dollar patent sales by Nortel and Motorola, cable and on-line news services immediately began to inquire as to the potential value of RIMM’s patent estate. Today, I joined Brian Sullivan live on MSNBC to discuss the situation. 

As seen in the chart below, RIMM has approximately 2,800 U.S. patents with a portfolio Ocean Tomo PatentRatings® IPQ score of 117.8 (wherein the average patent scores a100). Importantly, the portfolio skews towards quality with more than 40% of all U.S. patents rated as an A or A- and select individual patents scoring an incredible 250+.

Potential parties interested in RIMM’s portfolio include current industry participants as well as potential new entrants and profiteers (ie., investors seeking to acquire the portfolio to license or enforce). A list of industry players can be derived by looking to multigenerational patent citations as shown in the chart below.

Using the highest rated RIMM patents as a starting point, the chart shows not only select elements of RIMM’s portfolio but others owning similar technology. The horizontal axis is a measure of quality (again using IPQ Scores) and the vertical axis is a measure of relatedness. A further description of such statistics can be found on our website.

James E. Malackowski is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Tomo, LLC, an integrated Intellectual Capital Merchant Banc™ firm providing financial products and services related to Intellectual Property (IP) expert services, research, investments, risk management and transactions. Ocean Tomo assists clients in realizing Intellectual Capital Equity® value broadly defined. Subsidiaries of Ocean Tomo include: Ocean Tomo Capital, LLC – publisher of the Ocean Tomo 300® Patent Index (NYSE: OTPAT). Ocean Tomo is the founder and majority owner of the Intellectual Property Exchange International, Inc. Mr. Malackowski serves as the Chairman of the Exchange.
Contact: JimMalackowskiBlogs@OceanTomo.com