Background
A global media protection technology company was seeking to increase its global footprint by bringing two of its seminal innovations to the U.S. market. Rather than pursue an aggressive intellectual property assertion strategy or sale to a non-practicing entity – both of which could alienate potential partners in the U.S. – their goal was to take a more creative approach, using their intellectual property to forge new relationships.
Engagement
Aware of Ocean Tomo’s reputation as a thought leader in multiple aspects of IP management, the company engaged us to assess both patent portfolios and develop custom monetization strategies for each. Ocean Tomo provided both Opinion and Management Services leveraging a senior team members from Innovation Management, Intellectual Property Strategy, and Valuation.
Our process began with a thorough investigation of the technologies in question, as well as the markets within which these technologies were most applicable. Subsequently, our technical experts characterized and rated the patents within the portfolios and identified additional patents issued to the company that would make the offering more attractive in the U.S. market. We then determined the value of the portfolios under several different scenarios, including acquisition by an operating company for defense, an industry-wide licensing campaign, and the formation of a technology-based consortium. Finally, we developed two custom monetization strategies: a pure asset sale for one portfolio and a commercialization / venture development strategy for the other.
Results
The company, pleased with our work product, further engaged Ocean Tomo to execute the recommended monetization strategies.