Vringo Investors To Fund New Business Model [View article]
No specific hard and fast rules, and most investors (the ones buying IP) would honestly try and negotiate the best possible price under the circumstances. That said, most investors would consider a purchase opportunity that fails to present a likely 10x or greater upside (in other words, a profit of 10 times the investment or more) to be unattractive. Does that mean VRNG believes they can generate $200 M+ from the Nokia patents? Perhaps. Will they? Who knows.
Re Nokia and the 7-year clause: Nokia already took a license back under the acquired patents, which is standard on this type of deal. They are also likely not very worried about the Lycos patents ... So, why have the clause at all? Well, the LAST thing you want is to be hoist by one's own petard ... imagine if VRNG sued Samsung with the Nokia patents and, as part of a settlement, Samsung in turn sold patents to VRNG which they then used to sue Nokia... Wouldn't want to explain THAT to the shareholders...
Vringo Investors To Fund New Business Model [View article]
I find it very telling that VRNG has not yet filed an 8-K on the AOL settlement. Moreover, the fact that, despite the settlement, they are using a secondary offering to pay off Hudson Bay suggests that they have yet to receive significant revenues from the Lycos patents.
However, I would not make a leap to suggest that VRNG does not expect substantial revenue from Google if and when a licensing arrangement is reached.
Investing In A 'Patent Troll' That Analysts Believe Will Double [View article]
Personally, I don't think the sell-off had anything to do with CITI. The timing of the announcement was just a coincidence. The "smart money" has been short on Acacia since their pursuit of Adaptix. THe purchase shows the company toward more of a "big game hunter" model, which is obviously more exciting, but makes the company less stable.
That was demonstrated this quarter, when a full 72% of Q2 revenue came from one licensing deal, meaning the rest of the portfolios produced only about $14 M combined, which is something I addressed here: http://seekingalpha.co....
A Tale Of 2 Quarters - Acacia Research Illustrates Patent Play Volatility [View article]
Bill - You are confusing portfolio performance with revenue generating agreements. As you'll note above, I do explain that 27 portfolios generated funds, however Acacia itself discloses this was on the strength of 38 license agreements.
Your math is correct as to the average amount generated from each portfolio that generated funds, but my math is correct as to the average amount received from each agreement reached.
Microsoft And Apple Working Together: Patent Hysteria Returns Over Kodak Auction [View article]
Very good question. Could a fix be in? Of course ... but the two sides opposing each other are not known for playing ball... in AOL, it was easy because they were only dealing w/ one other company (Microsoft) .... I don't see a successful conspiracy for Kodak b/c of the players involved.
Only two bidders because they've teamed up as groups. The alignment also suggests a really high sale price (because if they were to be sold of for peanuts, you wouldn't need to team up).
A Tale Of 2 Quarters - Acacia Research Illustrates Patent Play Volatility [View article]
I just double checked. A press release with a summary of earnings was released on the 19th. (See http://1.usa.gov/R55274)
However, their 10-Q was not released until the 30th. Their 7/19 press release did NOT include concentration figures, so much of what I reported would not have been possible before the 30th/31st.
Microsoft And Apple Working Together: Patent Hysteria Returns Over Kodak Auction [View article]
I did not intend to be misleading. The interest of those entities are all aligned along with Android, and thus are commonly aligned behind Google. In other words, I would expect Google to lead the charge and the others to contribute only to the level necessary to protect their previous investment in Android.
If Google's major smartphone partners are not already investigating alternatives to Android--you know, just in case--they should be horse-whipped for their willful blindness to an obvious and material issue.
Too Early To Dub Neonode The 'Apple-Killer' [View article]
Unfortunately, the zForce patents are not really in play in the smartphone sector because, as the article you linked even explains, they deal with infrared sensors, instead of the dominant capacitive touch technology.
Those companies you mentioned (and anyone with a brain in the IP world) base their purchase decisions on practicality and applicability of portfolios, not conjecture and speculation. E.g. How many assets, and what technologies do they cover? Not to mention:
1. HTC already benefited from Neonode WITHOUT needing to spend money on its patents. 2. Samsung can do the same. 3. Samsung and Google are already talking about an alliance to beat Apple back a bit, most likely using the Moto portfolio. 4. Apple is not threatened.
I'm sure it will move higher... the market, at large, still does not understand patents.
Too Early To Dub Neonode The 'Apple-Killer' [View article]
"I am just simply stating that in the case of Apple and Neonode there is a reasonable belief that Neonode stands to gain substantial market value if only for perceived nuisance value alone. After all it caused Apple a loss in the Apple V. HTC patent case"
Neonode's status as prior art is free for anyone to use and apply toward a patent assertion, as the HTC case aptly demonstrates. The loss does not equate to creating value for Neonode.
Too Early To Dub Neonode The 'Apple-Killer' [View article]
The UK ruling in no way translates into $ for Neonode. Period. Read the explanation of Neonode's patent claims, repeated ad naseum above. Apple's version is a bona fide design-around that specifically avoids infringing Neonode's patent.
What the UK judge said, in a nutshell, is that Apple's design-around is not sufficiently 'inventive' to be patentable itself. This has no bearing whatsoever on applicability of Neonode's patent to Apple.
Internet Patents Begins A New Phase [View article]
Occam's razor suggests that, despite a mile-long target list, PTNT and it's lawyers at Winstead PC (a large, corporate law firm) are still sorting out issues such as legal and business conflicts. Meanwhile, PTNT wanted to make good on its promise to deliver verifiable activity on its patent portfolio in the second quarter.
Internet Patents Begins A New Phase [View article]
Vince -
Good article ... The lawsuit is a bit of a headscratcher. Sure, you don't necessarily want to go after the 800lb gorilla on your first shot, but that doesn't mean the only alternative is picking on two companies that don't appear to have 100 employees between them! There is a huge middle ground between the two. Possibly, TellApart's recent $13 M funding round could be top-of-mind for PTNT, or they are simply looking to bully TellApart into a royalty-bearing license to establish an early data point for the patent.
Another curious note is the choice of venue in Northern California ... not the most friendly of places for patent owners, but perhaps the company wanted to sue on its home turf and not appear to be gaming the system by going to a more patent-friendly part of the country.
Finally, note that PTNT's counsel used an "internetpatentscorpor... email address ... an in-house counsel. Also signing the complaint was Michael P Adams of Winstead in Austin, Texas. Both this particular lawyer and law firm more commonly show up on the defendant's side of the aisle.
It will be very interesting to see how this plays out ...
Too Early To Dub Neonode The 'Apple-Killer' [View article]
Just a point of order, the passage you are criticizing was not written by me... Apple's goals and likely outcomes from its lawsuits is a completely different issue ...
You are right, the swipe patent is only one of several at issue.
More broadly speaking than money or injunctions, Apple is suing to inflict "pain" on Samsung .... whether that means Samsung having to write a big check, getting their tablets blocked from importation, or even just having to write checks to their legal team each month ...
Vringo Investors To Fund New Business Model [View article]
Vringo Investors To Fund New Business Model [View article]
Re Nokia and the 7-year clause: Nokia already took a license back under the acquired patents, which is standard on this type of deal. They are also likely not very worried about the Lycos patents ... So, why have the clause at all? Well, the LAST thing you want is to be hoist by one's own petard ... imagine if VRNG sued Samsung with the Nokia patents and, as part of a settlement, Samsung in turn sold patents to VRNG which they then used to sue Nokia... Wouldn't want to explain THAT to the shareholders...
Vringo Investors To Fund New Business Model [View article]
However, I would not make a leap to suggest that VRNG does not expect substantial revenue from Google if and when a licensing arrangement is reached.
Investing In A 'Patent Troll' That Analysts Believe Will Double [View article]
That was demonstrated this quarter, when a full 72% of Q2 revenue came from one licensing deal, meaning the rest of the portfolios produced only about $14 M combined, which is something I addressed here: http://seekingalpha.co....
A Tale Of 2 Quarters - Acacia Research Illustrates Patent Play Volatility [View article]
Your math is correct as to the average amount generated from each portfolio that generated funds, but my math is correct as to the average amount received from each agreement reached.
Microsoft And Apple Working Together: Patent Hysteria Returns Over Kodak Auction [View article]
Only two bidders because they've teamed up as groups. The alignment also suggests a really high sale price (because if they were to be sold of for peanuts, you wouldn't need to team up).
A Tale Of 2 Quarters - Acacia Research Illustrates Patent Play Volatility [View article]
A Tale Of 2 Quarters - Acacia Research Illustrates Patent Play Volatility [View article]
However, their 10-Q was not released until the 30th. Their 7/19 press release did NOT include concentration figures, so much of what I reported would not have been possible before the 30th/31st.
Microsoft And Apple Working Together: Patent Hysteria Returns Over Kodak Auction [View article]
If Google's major smartphone partners are not already investigating alternatives to Android--you know, just in case--they should be horse-whipped for their willful blindness to an obvious and material issue.
Too Early To Dub Neonode The 'Apple-Killer' [View article]
Those companies you mentioned (and anyone with a brain in the IP world) base their purchase decisions on practicality and applicability of portfolios, not conjecture and speculation. E.g. How many assets, and what technologies do they cover? Not to mention:
1. HTC already benefited from Neonode WITHOUT needing to spend money on its patents.
2. Samsung can do the same.
3. Samsung and Google are already talking about an alliance to beat Apple back a bit, most likely using the Moto portfolio.
4. Apple is not threatened.
I'm sure it will move higher... the market, at large, still does not understand patents.
Too Early To Dub Neonode The 'Apple-Killer' [View article]
Neonode's status as prior art is free for anyone to use and apply toward a patent assertion, as the HTC case aptly demonstrates. The loss does not equate to creating value for Neonode.
Too Early To Dub Neonode The 'Apple-Killer' [View article]
What the UK judge said, in a nutshell, is that Apple's design-around is not sufficiently 'inventive' to be patentable itself. This has no bearing whatsoever on applicability of Neonode's patent to Apple.
Internet Patents Begins A New Phase [View article]
Internet Patents Begins A New Phase [View article]
Good article ... The lawsuit is a bit of a headscratcher. Sure, you don't necessarily want to go after the 800lb gorilla on your first shot, but that doesn't mean the only alternative is picking on two companies that don't appear to have 100 employees between them! There is a huge middle ground between the two. Possibly, TellApart's recent $13 M funding round could be top-of-mind for PTNT, or they are simply looking to bully TellApart into a royalty-bearing license to establish an early data point for the patent.
Another curious note is the choice of venue in Northern California ... not the most friendly of places for patent owners, but perhaps the company wanted to sue on its home turf and not appear to be gaming the system by going to a more patent-friendly part of the country.
Finally, note that PTNT's counsel used an "internetpatentscorpor... email address ... an in-house counsel. Also signing the complaint was Michael P Adams of Winstead in Austin, Texas. Both this particular lawyer and law firm more commonly show up on the defendant's side of the aisle.
It will be very interesting to see how this plays out ...
Too Early To Dub Neonode The 'Apple-Killer' [View article]
You are right, the swipe patent is only one of several at issue.
More broadly speaking than money or injunctions, Apple is suing to inflict "pain" on Samsung .... whether that means Samsung having to write a big check, getting their tablets blocked from importation, or even just having to write checks to their legal team each month ...