Patent Kinetics, LLC

Patents: What Entrepreneurs and Investors Need To Know Now - Revised August 10, 2018

This is a substantial revision that includes discussion of the recent Supreme Court decision in the Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC. Oil States makes patents a franchise granted by the government rather than a true property right such as land ownership. The updated version also addresses the decline of the US patent system and need to consider foreign filings and their substantial additional costs early on. The revised presentation also notes proposed changes at the USPTO and by legislation filed in the House of Representatives.

Download Weber-Patents-What You Need to Know Now 8-10-2018

 

 

 

 

View From the Desk: Interview by Licensing Economics Review

Copyright 2016 Licensing Economic Review. Reprinted In Full With Permission. Thanks to Dave Weiler and Kate Smith for making this opportunity possible.

View From The Desk Of Robert Weber,

This “View” is with Robert Weber, Managing Director of Patent Kinetics, LLC.  Bob is an experienced intellectual-property professional, inventor, serial entrepreneur, management consultant, and senior executive. Patent Kinetics helps clients to create patent portfolios comprised of strong patents that can be monetized through sale, licensing, or enforcement. He can be reached at  Weber@PatentKinetics.com. 

[Note from Bob:  He is not an attorney, does not give legal advice and does not practice law.  However, Patent Kinetics does work closely with top tier intellectual property law firms and trial attorneys.]

LER: What is your background?  How did you come to be in your present position?

RW: I am a Ph.D. Sociologist by training and spent 20 years working with computers and quantitative academic work.  Eventually I joined NCRI, a 25-person business and information technology consulting boutique based in Boston.  We mainly did work for Global 1000 companies. The founders of NCRI created an innovative form of scenario planning called Future Mapping. 

At NCRI I focused mainly on the copyright industries who were trying to figure out in the early 1990s how the emerging commercial Internet would affect information creation, access, and distribution. I led public workshops on the future of publishing and information commerce while applying the Future Mapping process and lessons learned to client work.

In 1996, I became Senior Vice President of Business and Technology Strategy at Intertrust Technologies. The company was just starting out in the field of trusted computing and digital rights management.  We provided a platform that helped those in the media, information, and software industries to protect their music, video, and software against unauthorized use.

Kelemen's Kreations LLC Settles Litigation with Emsco Group

HOUSTON, TX, November 30, 2015. Kelemen's Kreations, LLC (“Kelemen’s”) announced today that it had settled litigation with the Emsco Group. As part of the settlement, Kelemen's has agreed to sell its entire patent and trademark portfolio to the Emsco Group. Financial and other terms were not disclosed.

Mike Kelemen, the inventor and majority owner of Kelemen's Kreations, LLC, said that he would like to thank Bob Weber, the Managing Director of Patent Kinetics, LLC, for leading this project and seeing it through to a satisfying conclusion. "I'd also like to thank the legal team that Bob put together: Edward Goldstein, Goldstein Law, PLLP, of Houston, TX, and Peter J. Corcoran, III, Esq., Corcoran IP Law, PLLC, of Texarkana, TX," said Mr. Kelemen.

Inquiries:
Bob Weber, Patent Kinetics, LLC, weber@patentkinetics.com
Ed Goldstein, Esq, Goldstein Law, egoldstein@gliplaw.com
Peter Corcoran, Esq, Corcoran IP Law, peter@corcoranip.com

Unified Patents' 2014 Litigation Report

Might be of interest. Here's a link to the report.

Determining Patent Value

Contrary to what some patent owners believe, the value of a patent(s) is determined by the market(s). Some patent owners I've encountered think that they can demand a certain amount of money with various terms associated with the transaction and that they will get it if they demand long enough, loudly enough. Ain't necessarily so. In fact, it's seldom, if ever the case.

An Inventor, Investor and Examiner Walk Into A Bar: Inventors Alliance Presentation

On Aug 3rd I gave a presentation titled, "An Inventor, Investor, and Patent Examiner Walk Into A Bar" to the Bay Area Chaper of the Inventors Alliance. The presentation can be download in PDF format here. The PDF version does not show the animations.

As always, comments appreciated.

IXQuick: Privacy Protected Search

Inventors and patent researchers may want to consider using the IXQuick search engine, which claims not to keep records of search terms, among other benefits. Their privacy policy page is here.

Contingency Fee Infringement Cases v1.1

In response to a couple of selected comments, the PDF version of the article on Contingency Fee Infringement Cases has been updated. The blogicle installment version remains unchanged.

Non-Practicing Entities and Trolls?

Those who own but do not practice their patents are sometimes referred to negatively as "trolls" or "patent trolls," especially when they assert their patents against companies who are alleged to be practicing the inventions without a license. Well-known (in some circles) firms that are often identified by others as patent trolls include Acacia Technologies and Intellectual Ventures.

The term was coined in the 1990s. A Wikipedia discussion of the term's origins can be found here. A more, but not completely neutral term is Non Practicing Entity, or NPE.

Contingency Fee Infringement Cases - Part 3

[The complete article may be downloaded in PDF format by clicking this link.]

Substantial Risk Factors

Initiating an infringement lawsuit carries with it many important risks. Patent owners should be aware that litigating their patents may have significant negative consequences, especially against well-funded opponents that may hire law firms to aggressively defend them.

Contingency Fee Infringement Cases - Part 2

[Part 1 can be found here]

Different Kinds of Law Firms, Relationships

Law firms come in many flavors, sizes, and shapes. Some litigators will work on “modified contingency,” which usually means that the client is expected to pay expenses. In return, the law firm will take a lower percentage of any proceeds.

For the right case with the right client against the right target(s), some litigators will work of “full contingency,” which usually means that they will advance their out-of-pocket expenses. If and when funds are received, typically the first money in will be used to repay the firm’s expenses. The remaining funds will be shared between the firm and the client in accordance with the representation agreement.

Contingency Fee Infringement Cases - Part 1

Many inventors and small companies may not be fully aware that certain law firms in the US regularly take patent infringement cases on a contingency fee basis. This article reviews key factors that patent owners should keep in mind while evaluating the possibility of approaching a contingency fee litigation firm for representation.

More specifically, this article provides a brief and necessarily incomplete discussion of the following issues: (1) what makes for a great infringement case; (2) how are law firms and patent owners likely to work with each other; and, (3) what are some major risk factors in bringing an infringement case?

PBS Segement on 3D Printers

This informative PBS video might be of interest to inventors who are innovating "stuff" or things.

Creating Valuable Patents - Checklists - Part 3

[Part 1 can be found here; Part 2, here]

Patents and Patent Prosecution Factors

The “optics”—the visuals—of patent portfolios are often valued more than actual patent quality. Numbers of patents, patent claims, etc. may be prioritized over patent quality. Big companies are sometimes expert at playing this game. However, those wishing to create valuable patents need to address other factors, including: 

 Prior Art Searching

• Was the patent prior art searched and if so, how extensively?
• Was the non-patent prior art searched at all and if so, how extensively?
• Did the inventor / assignee leave the searching up to the patent office?

Creating Valuable Patents - Checklists - Part 2

[Part 1 can be found here]

Technology Commercialization Factors

Closely related to market factors are aspects of the inventions themselves. Is the invention narrow or broad? Amazon’s “1-Click” patent notwithstanding, broad inventions tend to be more valuable than very narrow inventions. There are several reasons for this: in the aggregate, royalties and/or damages in infringement cases may be higher for broad compared with narrow inventions and portfolios. Broad patents may make it difficult for competitors to “patent around” the inventions or to find new ways of solving a given problem that are as effective and efficient as the patented technologies. In addition, depending on the evolution of relevant markets, more parties may infringe broad than narrow patents.

Business Implications

• Is the invention best thought of as a component of some larger product or service?
• Is the invention sufficient to be the basis of a new product or service offering?
• If component technology, who makes or would make the whole product?
• Do prospective customers have a history of incorporating technologies from other sources or are they a “not invented here” culture?
• Do prospective customers have a history of acquiring patents and if so, at what valuation? 
• Are there competing technologies that solve the immediate problem and if so, are those solutions more or less costly, or easier to manufacture?
• How long does it typically take to get a “design win” in the relevant industry?

Creating Valuable Patents - Checklists - Part 1

Patent Kinetics works with inventors, entrepreneurs, and investors to enhance the value of their patent portfolios and then works to monetize these portfolios through their sale, license or enforcement. Since Patent Kinetics works on a contingent fee basis, only a few cases of the many presented to us are accepted. The opportunities that we do accept are those where the prospective client has thought through—as best possible—relevant market, technology, and patent issues.

Many mistakenly believe that simply having pending applications and/or issued patents creates notable value. However, most patents are worthless. Research reports have found that only about 10% of issued patents ever return any value to their owners.  Creating real value entails successfully overcoming significant challenges and a bit of luck. These challenges might be best understood by addressing most or all of the questions listed here. These questions can, of course, be used as a checklist for innovators or as a basis for preliminary due diligence by prospective stakeholders.