M·CAM | News Archive
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M·CAM Index spotlight: Why Innovative Firms Do Better for Investors

Ataman Ozyildirim, The Conference Board’s Senior Director of Economics and Chair of Global Research published an op-ed today about our their Innovation Indexes, powered by M·CAM.

What keeps business leaders up at night?
In a recent global survey, CEOs rank creating more innovative cultures as their third biggest internal challenge for 2020. Creating new business models comes in second. And attracting and retaining top talent – a key driver of innovation – takes the top spot.


Even though innovation is so important, there’s little agreement – and lots of confusion – on how to measure it. That comes as no surprise, given the complexity of innovation. It is often very intangible.


But some tangible signs of innovation can be measured. Take intellectual property, for example, which receives protection from patents, trademarks, and copyrights.

Read the full article here

MCAM launch press collage

M·CAM’s ETF launch covered around the world: Australian Financial Review

“There’s now a trade war ETF you can invest in”

Our ETF launches have now been covered around the whole world – spreading faster than we can keep up. Outside of our main market, the US, we have seen articles appear in Korean, Chinese and Italian.

Now the AFR has published an article on our launch, which we are very happy to see, as we are looking to make a large impact on the superannuation market in Australia.

See the full article in the Australian Financial Review here

Bloomberg: There’s Now a Trade War ETF You Can Invest In

“The Innovation Alpha Trade War ETF, which started trading on Wednesday under the ticker TWAR, plans to buy companies that have government contracts, calculating that state support could buoy these stocks if tensions escalate. Only firms with strong intellectual property — as defined by M-CAM — are eligible for the fund. “

Bloomberg has this afternoon published a short piece about our TWAR ETF, in light of the launch today.

TWAR is currently trading at $25.77

Read the full article on Bloomberg.com here

Patently Obvious® – Spandex Rumble Down Under

Several Australian news outlets have recently reported a story interviewing Carolyn Taylor, who alleges that Lorna Jane has infringed on her patent for compression tights filed in 2009. Is this a classic underdog story, where the little guy has been exploited and swept under the carpet by their bigger competitor, or is there more to it? With litigation proceedings set to commence on the 3rd of May, we take a closer look. How far has innovation really wandered from the corsets used in the brothels of Europe?

 

 

For those new to the patent world, here is some background to the frivolous patent litigation scene: After a famous case involving the University of California and Microsoft, the long dormant eggs containing troll embryos hatched. When trolls feed, they observe goat passages across heavily trafficked bridges, and install toll booths with the cunning aid of men (and precious few women) in wigs and robes. By making the cost of litigation a burden on genuine businesses, these parasites can suck blood from active businesses and unsuspecting consumers. With the cost of litigation in both time and money extremely high, it is not uncommon for patent opportunists to select a single target with whom litigation or settlement is considered likely to build a war chest for going after much larger targets.”

 

Download the full report here

Patent review can be quite cheeky at times. Diagram from US 7260961. Stylistic throwback to the European brothels of yore

Catalyst Pharmaceutical’s Firdapse price hike – Patently Obvious®

3,4-DAP

Image courtesy: Edgar181 [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

 

 

 

Senator Bernie Sanders wrote an open letter to Catalyst Pharmaceuticals on the 4th of February regarding their newly FDA approved drug to treat Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome, saying “Catalyst’s decision to set the annual list price at $375,000 is not only a blatant fleecing of American taxpayers, but is also an immoral exploitation of patients who need this medication.”

Seeing this, M·CAM decided to investigate. What follows is a report on a company that has leveraged the patent system and orphan drug act against their intended use to profit on the suffering of vulnerable patients.

Download the Patently Obvious® report here

 

CNBC mentions both Dr. Martin and Dex Wheeler in most recent Disruptor 50 Article

Date:  Thu, 2016-06-16

Being a first-mover to disrupt a sector is big, “but the bigger thing is, these are the companies that have taken the time and effort to make sure ”” before they raise their hand to say they’ve got a business opportunity to put out there ”” they’ve ring-fenced it with some proprietary rights that make their value higher,” MCAM founder David Martin said during a recent CNBC appearance. “They’re just better companies in terms of how they’re going to last over the long haul.”

Read the entire article HERE

CNBC launches Disruptor 50 Today – Powered by M·CAM

Date:  Tue, 2016-06-07

M·CAM International provided new visibility into how nominee companies protect the technology at the foundation of their business models. Using its unprecedented database of patent, trademark and other intellectual property information, M·CAM revealed which of the 750 nominees had such protection and rated the quality of those protections. (Special thanks to Dex Wheeler at M·CAM who developed the scoring for these important criteria.)

Read the full article HERE

Anil Gupta – Keynote speaker at the 8th National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship

Delivering the keynote address, Prof. Gupta stressed on the need for grass-root innovators, the need to empower them, recognize social entrepreneurs and reward them by safeguarding their interests. He talked about his idea on social entrepreneurship and the qualities of an ideal social entrepreneur – daring, innovative and focusing on the grass root levels. He pointed out that how every problem had a solution and his belief that the ability to find a way out of tight spots is something an entrepreneur should possess. In his address, Prof. Gupta also dwelt on the embedded mindsets and challenges that the social entrepreneur will face and how to tackle it.