How the IP Dealmakers Are Dealing (2021 Edition)
Above the Law – December 14, 2021
Fresh off the heels of a successful litigation finance-focused LF Dealmakers (this year’s edition discussed here), Wendy Chou and the Dealmakers team dove right into the eighth annual installment of the IP Dealmakers Forum. As with prior installments of IP Dealmakers, this year’s event brought together law firms, IP-focused vendors, litigation financiers, and others to discuss the state-of-play in the IP dealmaking world as we enter year three of the pandemic. With participants attending both in-person as well as virtually — with the latter being how I myself attended in my capacity as your trusty columnist — the sold-out event once again leaned heavily on the patent side of the IP ledger in terms of content, if only because patent deals and litigation activity continue to dominate the conversation with respect to high-value IP endeavors. To that end, a broad cross-section of panelists was on offer, sharing their thoughts on everything from strategic patent prosecution for startups to the most cutting-edge thinking on venue for big-ticket patent cases.
Because I attended virtually, I really had the opportunity to focus on the content of the panels that I watched, undistracted by the (worthwhile in the main) networking that takes place when one attends an industry conference in person. In particular, I tried to play close attention to the broader themes being discussed, with an eye toward capturing what is really driving IP dealmaking in these challenging times. And make no mistake, despite the pandemic’s disruptive effects there is plenty of dealmaking going on in the IP world, with the promise of a lot more to come in 2022. I look forward to discussing at least some of that activity as it happens on these pages. For purposes of this column, however, I’d like to build off three words that I think espouse a lot of what underlay the discussion at IP Dealmakers: collegiality, alignment, and transition.