A brief guide to the value of RIMM\’s patent portfolio by IPmetrics Chief Economist interviewed today on BNN.ca

1. A Patent Value Guide to:
Research in Motion Ltd. [RIMM]
July 18, 2012
Fernando Torres, MSc
Chief Economist
IPmetrics LLC
@FTorresMSc
@IPmetrics

2. A Patent
Is the right to exclude others from practicing
an invention for a number of years, granted in
exchange for the public disclosure of the
invention.

3. The Value of a Patent
Depends on the profitability of the exclusive
business opportunity the patent carves out for
the owner.

4. Research in Motion Ltd.
• Owns thousands of patents (issued and
pending) mostly in Canada, Europe and
the US.
• In 2011, acquired US$775 portion of
Nortel patents (US$4.5 billion) as part of
a consortium
• Intangibles are US$3.37 billion on June
2, 2012 balance sheet.

5. Research in Motion’s Patent Portfolio
• In the US, holds over 3,000 utility patents,
design patents, or published applications.
• About one-third are designs or patents
directly related to the well known
Blackberry® handsets.
• Another portion deals with wireless
communications.
• Yet another refers to touch screen phones.

6. Research in Motion’s Potential Patent Value
• The portfolio contains innovations for future
applications, such as: Combining the use of
capacitive and resistive touch sensors to
improve accuracy, and LTE telecommunication
technology.
• Includes systems and methods for instant
messaging which are current technology.
• Yet has many more designs and patents only
applicable to the legacy Blackberry® phones.

7. Research in Motion’s Potential Patent Value
• Component patents in the portfolio could be
used for litigation defense and offensive
strategies.
• Typical patent litigation can cost $2 or $3
million with only 40% of cases recovering
more than the cost of litigation.
• In the current environment, the RIM patents
could be attractive litigation leverage for
Google (Motorola mobility), Microsoft
(Nokia), and Samsung and HTC (vs. Apple).

8. Business News Network Interview

9. Thank You
Fernando Torres MSc is the Chief Economist at
IPmetrics LLC and brings to intellectual property
over 30 years of work experience in economics,
financial analysis, and business management in
the U.S. and Mexico.
He specializes in the economics of IP including
patents, trademarks and publicity rights for
valuation and litigation.
ftorres@ipmetrics.net
@FTorresMSc
@IPmetrics