The trouble with troll-hunting
The Economist – December 14, 2019
Nucurrent, a startup in Chicago, has come up with a way to charge electronic gizmos wirelessly—a nifty trick for devices such as smartphones. So nifty, in fact, that Samsung, a giant South Korean device- maker, uses it in its mobile phones—or so NuCurrent claims. In 2018 NuCurrent sued Samsung in America for using its technology without paying royalties. In February Samsung denied NuCurrent’s allegations in a court filing. Then, between March and June, it filed seven legal challenges against NuCurrent’s patents. Navigating each will cost NuCurrent between $500,000 and $1m, says its boss, Jacob Babcock—a lot of money for a firm with 35 employees and no in-house lawyers. Read more.
How the IP Dealmakers Are Dealing
Above the Law – November 26, 2019
In a recent column, I shared some IP-related takeaways from a major litigation finance-focused conference I attended recently, the LF Dealmakers Forum. A few weeks ago, the team behind that conference hosted the latest installment of the IP Dealmakers Forum, the 6th annual edition of that event. As always, it was a well-attended gathering of IP professionals representing law firms, IP owners, IP media, and litigation financiers. Like with LF Dealmakers, the organizers were gracious enough to allow me to attend in my capacity as author of this IP column. Read more.
Legal landscape more rational now but will shift back, says Facebook IP supremo
IAM Magazine – November 14, 2019
Pull together a group of senior IP executives and gauge their opinion on the strength of patent rights and you can expect some marked differences, particularly with regards to the state of play in the US. The message from many in Silicon Valley is more likely to be fairly positive – and that was certainly the takeaway yesterday from Facebook’s IP supremo Allen Lo, speaking at the IP Dealmakers Forum in New York. Read more.