Sidecar announced today that it is licensing its patent assets to General Motors. While Sidecar was founded in 2011, the company’s co-founder Sunil Paul developed and patented ridesharing technology more than a decade earlier. Paul received US 6,356,838 in 2002, based on a patent application he filed in 2000. The ‘838 patent has been widely reported in the media, as […]
Bloomberg reported today that Uber is looking to raise over $2 billion in a new funding round, which would value the company at well over $60 billion. The report states that Uber’s new funding may help the company expand beyond car-booking, and allow it to provide additional services such as food and package delivery. As part […]
The Coalition for Affordable Drugs has been the subject of much controversy in recent months. The organization is backed by hedge fund billionaire Kyle Bass and Hayman Capital, who are using inter partes review filings (IPR) to challenge patents of public pharmaceutical companies. The ultimate goal for Bass and Hayman Capital presumably being to profit […]
With the one year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l. (decided on June 19, 2014) recently passed, Envision IP and The Patent Box, LLC have collaborated to analyze the impact of the decision on patent application filings from the technology, financial services, and automotive sectors. In the first […]
The future of the non-practicing entity business model as it currently exists is uncertain. With many headwinds facing NPEs, including AIA provisions for IPR and CBM invalidity proceedings, state and proposed federal legislation aimed at aggressive NPE tactics, and the limited scope and viability of business methods patents after the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice […]
After Fitbit, Inc.’s successful IPO last week, the company is reportedly focused on increasing its product and services offerings by investing in research and development. Envision IP reviewed the US patent portfolios of Fitbit and Jawbone to understand how the two companies are protecting the innovations stemming from their R&D investments. The result is surprising, […]
The topic of financial services patents was a focus of discussion during a panel moderated by Bruce Berman of Brody Berman Associates during this year’s IP Business Congress in San Francisco. The panelists included Michael Chernoff of MDB Capital Group, Andrew Ramer from Cantor Fitzgerald, and Sean Reilly of The Clearing House Payments Company. Each panelist […]
For the last two years, Envision IP has published annual stock performance analysis of publicly traded patent holding companies (also known as Non-Practicing Entities, or NPEs). Our first analysis included data from 2008 to 2012, and it showed impressive gains by many NPEs, with the majority of companies that we reviewed beating the S&P 500 by […]
Lycos, Inc., the former Internet search and web portal pioneer, announced yesterday that it is seeking a sale of its patent portfolio. The company which sold for $12.5 billion in 2000, most recently was acquired by India-based Ybrant Digital in 2010 for $36 million. Lycos is not a stranger to divesting patents, as the company previously sold […]
In April, Nokia announced plans to acquire Alcatel-Lucent in a deal valued at $16.6 billion. At the same time, the company announced plans to divest its mapping division, which operates under the HERE brand. In recent days, media reports have indicated that Nokia may well hold on to the mapping division, while most recently, Uber […]
