IP MARKET
‘Shameless’ War on ITC
We recently noted the large number of significant patent verdict awards of 2024. Although those are usually a positive indicator of the health of the patent market because they may instill some fear in serial infringers, the reality is, they have their limit—the same way a blue-collar worker winning the Powerball does not mean the middle class is suddenly looking to brighter prospects.
Goodwill Attempt Backfires
Under pressure to fight counterfeit products on its online platform and those accused of violating third-party patents, Amazon created its APEX program. It’s sort of an intramural arbitration process whereby someone claiming its patents were being infringed upon by an article sold on the Amazon website could—for a $4,000 fee—file a complaint and be bound by the final decision of the patent specialist retained by Amazon.
And the Winner Is …
As our readers know, one of Tangible IP’s criteria for assessing the health of the patent market is tied to large verdict awards that tend to make headlines and grab attention in the boardrooms. The past couple months provided its share of those, which should help long term in maintaining—if not increasing—patent valuations.
Goosing the Greed
We at Tangible IP get bombarded every day by inventors who want us to help them sell their one or two patents and expects to receive “several millions” (sometimes even billions) from their worthy invention, based primarily on reading some headline about a large patent verdict and thinking, naturally, “Why not me?”
Patent Transactions Up, But …
Despite the significant economic challenges and geopolitical tensions throughout 2023, the year concluded on a positive note with an increase in patent transactions. This upturn in activity within the patent secondary market coincided with a growing interest among companies to invest in research and development, particularly in the technology sector.