1. Business Sense • IP MattersBusiness Sense • IP Matters Attorney-Client Privileged & Confidential 1
Defensive Aggregators
Kent Richardson
September 24, 2016
CIP
Contact Information:
+1 (650) 967-6555
info@richardsonoliver.com
2. Business Sense • IP Matters
Evolution of Patents as a Business Asset Acts as
the Catalyst for an NPE Armageddon
NPE
Business
Model
Rise of the professional Intellectual
Asset Manager
•30 years ago, almost exclusively lawyers
•Now
•IAM Magazine & IPBC
•Undergraduate and graduate programs in
intellectual asset management
•Investment banking, funding for IP
monetization
IP hits the boardroom
•Market for patents starts
•$16M sales of the Commerce One portfolio
•Regular patent auctions from Ocean Tomo
•Intellectual Ventures deploys billions to buy
patents
•> $612M payment from Blackberry to NTP
•AOL/Microsoft/Facebook purchase $1.1B
•MIPS patent sale ($350M)
•Nortel Networks purchase ($4.5B)
Computer and mobile hit by suits
•Boom in smartphones
•How many patents in an iPhone?
•Web 2.0 growth outdoes dot.com growth
Attorney-Client Privileged & Confidential 2
3. Business Sense • IP Matters
Why These Business Models? – Rise of NPEs
•A patent troll, Non-Practicing Entity (NPE) or Patent Assertion Entity (PAE), is a company
that acquires patents to be used solely to assert the patents and obtain license fees
•NPEs don’t use their patents to create products or build businesses making traditional
negotiations difficult
NPEs (and PAEs and Patent Trolls)
•10K companies have been sued by an NPE
•Patent suit explosion in high tech – 34% compounded annual growth rate (1) LOT
Network
•84% of all litigation in high technology – LOT Network
•171 patent suits brought against Apple (2009-2013) – LOT Network
•Academic papers and research – Mark Lemley
•US President announces steps to fight patent trolls
•John Oliver on Patent Trolls
Acceleration of NPE patent assertion
•IV aggregates > 50K patent assets purchases (over 70K)
Intellectual Ventures (IV) funding reaches multiple billions
Attorney-Client Privileged & Confidential 3
4. Business Sense • IP Matters
NPE Litigation See Enormous Growth
Attorney-Client Privileged & Confidential 4
5. Business Sense • IP Matters
Defensive Aggregator Overview
Attorney-Client Privileged & Confidential 5
• All use collective action to address patent risk
• Most focus on NPEs
• Primary focus is in high tech although broadening out
Common backgrounds
• Not for profit: AST, OIN, LOT Network
• For profit: RPX (public), Unified (private)
• No single model has addressed all the NPE risk
Motivation
Aggregator Found
ed
Type Summary Membership
Cost
AST ~2006Patent laundry Aggregated patent buying/licensing $$$
OIN 2005Focused license for Linux Buys/aggregates patents for Linux developers Free
RPX 2008Aggregated NPE patent licenses Buys licenses from NPE for members $-$$$$
Unified Patents 2013Technology zone defender Attacks NPE patents in specific technology zones Free-$$$
LOT 2014Licenses to patents sold to NPEs Corporations agree that all their patents are licensed
if they ever fall into NPE hands
$
IP3 2016Patent laundry Modeled after Google patent buying program. Run by
AST
$$
6. Business Sense • IP Matters
Impact of Convergence – Increased NPE Threat
Convergence implies greater integration of technologies, meaning greater and
broader use of ingredient technologies
NPEs favor patents where multiple targets exist, each target is a relatively low
value, but the NPE profits where there are many
Convergence feeds the NPE business model
Attorney-Client Privileged & Confidential 6
• Product and underlying
technology are tightly coupled
• Concentration of technology in
a limited number of companies
• Limited number of end users
• Limited number of impacted
industries
Before convergence
• Underlying technology
becomes ingredient
technology in broad groups of
unrelated products
• Broad adoption of technology
in a large number of
companies
• 10X-100X more end users
• Any industry not effected?
After convergence
7. Business Sense • IP Matters
Combination of Solutions? Yes
Define the risk
problem
Assign value to
the problem
•How much does
the patent risk cost
you?
•5 year projection
Assign value to
the solution
•Qualitative and
quantitative
analysis
•Consider negatives
of participation
Join as
appropriate
Attorney-Client Privileged & Confidential 7
8. Business Sense • IP Matters
Overlap by Solution Type
• OIN/LOT
Overlap in licenses
• AST
• IP3
• RPX
Overlap in defensive aggregation
• RPX
• Unified
Overlap in NPE resolution
Attorney-Client Privileged & Confidential 8
9. Business Sense • IP Matters
Example Scenarios
•50K employees. Offers variety of traditional industrial and ICT
•Solutions
•RPX – remove current NPE suits
•OIN – cover Linux based cloud services
•Unified – reduce specific areas of risk
•AST/IP3 – supplement your defensive buying/alternative to RPX
•Annual costs
•$2M to start
•+ $5M in purchases
Large multinational
•50 people in ICT business
•Solutions
•OIN, Unified – yes because of specific area fit
•RPX – unlikely
•AST/IP3 – no
•Annual costs
•$0
SME
Attorney-Client Privileged & Confidential 9
10. Business Sense • IP Matters Attorney-Client Privileged & Confidential 10
BUSINESS SENSE • IP MATTERS
ROL Group has over 60 years of IP strategy and execution
experience. We ask the business questions first. We
blend in-house and large law firm experience to create
clear steps for success.
We guide companies through unique IP challenges—like
buying and selling patents, developing licensing
programs, defending against patent assertions, and
creating a value-driven IP portfolio. We give direction to
businesses that share our passion for new ideas, creative
problem solving and forward motion.
Contact Information:
+1 (650) 967-6555
info@richardsonoliver.com
11. Business Sense • IP Matters
AST – The Original Patent Laundry
• Founded: 2008
• Group patent buying (and licensing) for defensive patent acquisitions
History
• Members can buy individually or collectively buy patents
• Members do not have to participate in any purchases
• Members get access to patent market data
• Varying degrees of membership allows for different rights
• Purchase money is over and above membership price
Membership
• Patents are on the market and may be bought by an NPE or another company
• Defensive patent buying (buying the license for the member), reduces the cost of
the license
• Also possible to buy patents for offense (difficulties of anonymous action)
Best uses
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12. Business Sense • IP Matters
Open Invention Network – Patent Risk
Reduction for Linux Members
• Recognition that Linux community is at risk of patents
• Linux is based upon an open source (free) copyright license
• Concerns that Microsoft, others will disrupt Linux community
• Not for profit
History
• Members agree to license all the other members for Linux
• Free
Membership
• Linux developers and users (large deployments of Linux)
Best uses
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13. Business Sense • IP Matters
RPX – NPE Patent Litigation Risk Reduction
• Founded 2008
• Goal to collectively settle/buy patents in NPE hands, or
likely to be in NPE hands
History
• License to all patents bought/licensed by RPX
Membership
• NPE patent litigation resolution, or near litigation
• High tech focused
Best uses
Attorney-Client Privileged & Confidential 13
14. Business Sense • IP Matters
Unified Patents – Attacking NPE Patents in
Specific Technology Zones
• No payments to NPEs
• Attack NPE patents in focused technology deters NPEs from entering
the zone
• Lower cost model
• Challenges patents in the USPTO (IPRs and CBMs), also obtains zero
dollar licenses
History – founded as an alternative to RPX
• Pay per zone and based on revenue
Membership
• Reliance on specific technologies protected by Unified
• Cannot direct which patents to attack
Best uses
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15. Business Sense • IP Matters
License On Transfer – Preventing Corporate
Assets from Entering NPE Hands
• Recognition that NPE patents mostly come from large (failing)
corporations
• Members grant other members licenses to patents that are sold
to NPEs
History
• License to any patents sold by any other member to any NPEs,
ever
Membership
• Long term strategic risk reduction from NPEs, where other
companies are failing in your industry (expected to fail)
Best uses
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16. Business Sense • IP Matters
Why LOT?
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17. Business Sense • IP Matters
IP3 – Group Accelerated Patent
Buying/Licensing
• Google experiment in 2015
• Buy ICT related patents – obtain licenses cheap
• Buy patents quickly. Use computers to prioritize purchases,
promise quick closes
History
• License to all of the patents purchased. Some influence on the
purchase categories (more money means more influence)
• Fixed fee: $75K-$500K
Membership
• Adjunct to other buying program, defensive acquisition
Best uses
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