Partnerships Seen Via Inventor Records Another IP due diligence item is to determine if there are joint ventures or partnerships which will impact the merger going forward. A way to answer this question is shown in the “Partnerships Seen Via Inventor Records” figure. In this analytical display the patent account by assignee is [...]
Key Inventors Another important element for the merger team to understand is if key inventors are still with the company. An easy way to visualize this is shown in the “Key Inventors” figure. In this figure the patent in application count for each inventor is rank ordered. As part of the due diligence [...]
Is one thing for a patent portfolio to be large, it’s another for it to be current. Double check this, as shown in the “Remaining Life in Mergers Patents” figure, a plot is made to show how many years remain in the merger’s patents’ life. This can see be seen in this example. [...]
Merged Entities Investment and Portfolio Over Time Another question is “is the target company increasing their technology investment versus competition?” The answer to this question can be visualized in the “Merged Entities Investment and Portfolio Over Time” figure. In this figure number of patents and applications filed and issued for companies of interest [...]
Merged Portfolios’ Patent Velocity The next question is “what is the development intensity and velocity within the acquired company”. This question can be answered by graphing the number of patents in the merged company’s portfolio versus either years to expiration or by year, shown in the “Merged Portfolios’ Patent Velocity” figure. In this [...]
Thematic Map of the Merger’s Assignees’ Portfolios Yet another way to look at how technology and products are related and distributed among competitors can be shown in the “Thematic Map of the Merger’s Assignees’ Portfolios” figure. In this figure the thematic map is used to plot patents according to the subject matter they [...]
Technologies in a Merger’s Patent Portfolio Another way to view the same information is to use a pie chart. Although this does not show the individual companies contributions it can show the merged company’s core technologies. When compared to the strategic intent of the merger, it identifies technologies to build upon, and which [...]
Technologies in a Merger’s Patent Portfolio The first question on the list is ”is there technology synergy in the merger?” This can be answered by use of a radar chart of the IPC or US class codes of the proposed merged companies. This is one way to see the technology overlap and synergy [...]
Specific Activities and Questions of the Due Diligence Process The above checklists help a team engaged in due diligence make sure they have covered all their bases. Asking questions is one thing, finding a quick way to get solid answers is another. The following examples show how items described in the IP due [...]
The First Pass Checklist is essentially a tickle list to make sure that all high-level areas are covered during an IP due diligence process. For a much more complete guideline of the elements that should be put into a due diligence process, the below, more complete checklist is provided. It has been used [...]
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