M·CAM CTO Presents IP Collateral Fundamentals at Taiwan’s Intellectual Property Valuation & Financing Forum

Date:  Mon, 2004-12-06

The cost of ideas

Date:  Sat, 2004-11-13

It is becoming ever more apparent that the patent system isn’t working excepted from: The Economist: November 13, 2004 pg. 71 … In America, several controversial business-method patent awards, notably Amazon’s one-click payment process, have fuelled the perception that the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) is under strain. A study by M·CAM, an intellectual-property consultancy, found that over 30% of patents make duplicate claims, raising questions about their validity. America’s PTO dismisses the criticism as anecdotal. “We’re seeing lots of new industries being born, that is why there are a lot more patent applications,” say Mary Critharis of the PTO. The number of patent applications to the PTO is growing at around 6% a year. The wait for a decision is on average 27 months – and much longer for complex applications in advanced sciences. Last year, the PTO received around 350,000 applications and currently has a backlog of over half a million to review. It is a global concern: foreigners account for around half of all patents granted. Similar growth is occurring elsewhere, including in countries that previously showed little interest in intellectual property. Applications to China’s patent office increased fivefold from 1991 to 2001. As countries such as China, South Korea and India spend more on research and development, they are filing more patents. …

Monopolies of the mind

Date:  Thu, 2004-11-11

M·CAM CEO Presents Economic Assessment of Software Patent Council Common Position at EU Parliament

Date:  Tue, 2004-11-09

November 9, 2004 Today, Dr. David Martin, M·CAM CEO and University of Virginia’s Darden Business School Batten Fellow, addressed a special roundtable in the Parliament in Brussels regarding the economic impact of computer implemented software inventions. This roundtable was organized by the Head of the Finnish Delegation to the European Parliament in the EPP-ED Group, Mrs. Piia-Noora Kauppi. Participant speakers in the roundtable included Mr. Tim Frain (Nokia), Mr. Erik Josefsson (Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure – FFII), Mr. Mark MacGann (European Information, Communications and Consumer Electronics Technology Industry Association – EICTA), and, Mr. Florian Mueller (My SQL, AB). M·CAM’s presentation focused on the facts that:

1. European companies and the European Patent Office are already awarding a considerable number of patents that fall within the non-patentable subject matter definitions of the proposed Council Common Position – a reality that, while potentially impacting EU enforcement, will do little to abate the pursuit of such patents in international markets;
2. The “debate” about software patents is fueled by current ambiguity in the terminology of the Council Common Position as currently drafted; and,
3. The EU Parliament should actively deploy the considerable economic consequence data on the economic development impact of its proposal by looking at legacy experience in other countries – notably the United States – where the patenting of software enabled technology and business methods was improperly deployed by a patent office incapable of handling such inventions and by courts who created patentability standards outside the scope of Congressional consideration of appropriate controls that would have prevented the abuse of such patents.

Dr. Martin Addresses Brussels EU Conference: Regulating Knowledge: Costs, Risks, and Models of Innovation

Date:  Tue, 2004-11-09

Mixed thoughts about high-tech industry push

Date:  Sun, 2004-11-07

M·CAM’s role in IRS enforcement highlighted by Harvard Journal of Lay & Technology

Date:  Mon, 2004-11-01

U.S. Tax Bill Closes Door on Patent Donation Shelter

Date:  Fri, 2004-10-15

M·CAM CEO to Address Virginia’s 10™ Annual SBIR Conference

Date:  Thu, 2004-10-14

Patent Valuation: Is Fair Market Fair?

Date:  Tue, 2004-10-05

M·CAM CEO named UVA Darden Batten Fellow

Date:  Thu, 2004-09-30

PUBPAT Challenges Lipitor® Patent to Protect Public Health

Date:  Tue, 2004-09-14

M·CAM Unveils Mandarin Interface at the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) in Beijing

Date:  Fri, 2004-08-20

Charlottesville Company Values Intellectual Property

Date:  Mon, 2004-08-16

M·CAM CEO Comments on Tiered Patent System and its Possible Impacts on Financial Markets in IEEE Study

Date:  Sun, 2004-08-01

M·CAM Constructs Japan/Maine Technology Transfer and Development Agreement

Date:  Wed, 2004-07-21

M·CAM management to participate in IPR Lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad

Date:  Fri, 2004-07-02

M·CAM speaks at Carnegie Institutions in Washington D.C.

Date:  Fri, 2004-06-04

June 4, 2004 M·CAM CEO David Martin joined a panel of national experts on intellectual property and legislative policy to discuss “Information Patents: The Public Interest Agenda”. Among the distinguished participants were James Love (Consumer Project on Technology); Brian Kahin (University of Michigan), Philippe Aigrain (Society for Public Information Spaces); Rita Heimes (University of Maine); Jim Bessen (Boston University); Dan Ravicher (Public Patent Foundation); Josh Sarnoff (American University); and, Jason Shultz (Electronic Frontier Foundation).

Intangibles are no longer undetectable, the taxman says

Date:  Tue, 2004-06-01

Excerpted from: Adrian Preston. June/July 2004 “Intangibles are no longer undetectable, the taxman says.” Intellectual Asset Management pp 27-28 One of the major problems associated with the donation of patents is valuation. Valuing IP is, of course, a difficult and complex business. This perhaps explains why in the past the sheer complexity of the issues at stake has deterred IRS staff from asking too many questions and treating the patent donations scheme with what has been described as benign neglect. That attitude is changing fast. In an address to the Senate Finance Committee’s Roundtable on Patent Donations, David Martin, CEO of M·CAM, a leading IP verification business that has been working with the IRS to review patent donations cases said: “The IRS has struggled to make critical advances in an effort to enforce the quite adequate laws that are currently on the books. Though intimidated by those who have their self interests to protect in the accounting and legal communities, the IRS is attempting to educate its professionals on what questions to ask when reviewing patent-related transactions. Considering the revenue requirements of our government, it is imperative that revenue collection be facilitated immediately. The era when intangible was synonymous with undetectable is over.” Those words promise an IRS stance that is only likely to get tougher. Increased scrutiny of donations is not simply likely, it is inevitable, and businesses that are considering or have in the past made donations for which they received a tax benefit need to consider their compliance obligations urgently. The IRS has indicated that it is not simply the corporate donors themselves that could be liable to penalties if, on investigation, the value placed on a patent and the tax deduction claimed turns out to be inflated. The advisers and appraisers who have helped put the donation together could also find themselves facing punitive action.

M·CAM and SAS Institute introduce SAS Innovation Analysis at SAS Executive Conference

Date:  Mon, 2004-05-24

May 24, 2004 M·CAM and SAS have launched a cooperative effort to supply innovation analysis solutions to SAS customers. The Life Sciences focus for SAS’ Executive Conference serve as an ideal venue to introduce these market-leading products and services.