By Alexandra Reid
As a regular weekly feature, we provide our readers with a roundup of some of the best articles we have read in the past week. On the podium this week are TechCrunch, Fast Company, Forbes, ReadWriteWeb and MarketingProfs.
Why startups should pay attention to skyrocketing patent prices
As large companies increasingly look to protect their revenue streams through IP risk mitigation, startups with strong patent holdings will become increasingly valuable because they provide an opportunity to remove dual potential threats to the potential acquirer’s revenue stream — as a competitor and as a patent threat. Author Leonid Kravets explains that startups that are able to position themselves as part of an acquirer’s IP risk-mitigation strategy make themselves more attractive targets for acquisition.
Why every company should adopt Twitter’s Internet patent agreement
Twitter’s newly released Innovator’s Patent Agreement (IPA) appeals to a cause near and dear to many of today’s best developers. The defensive patent portfolio, that developers can be assured will be used only to defend against software patent assaults or with their permission, strikes the perfect balance for both parties. This article explores many reasons why this agreement, or something very similar, should become an industry standard.
Startup lessons from the ink-stained trenches
Startup founders and news reporters have more in common than being stereotypically broke. Author Shane Snow explains that where the skills of business and journalism overlap, entrepreneurship is often found. In this article, Snow suggests cues that every entrepreneur should take from journalists.
B2B marketers: Use big data, new tools to evaluate, execute, evolve
According to a new study, most B2B marketers do not feel their current online marketing mix is meeting sales demand, and that they’re under pressure to measure the impact of their programs. This article argues that if B2B marketers look at the disruption in their industry as an opportunity, they will find that they are, in fact, in a time of “creative re-invention,” and that in the end, “marketing will emerge as a stronger more potent discipline.”
What companies want: The seven traits of an ideal marketer
What do you look for when you hire a marketer? As the title reveals, this post lists the seven most important traits that every marketer should embody.
/// COMMENTS
One Comment »David J. French
April 22, 2012 1:00 amYou say, “Every company should adopt Twitter’s Internet patent agreement”.
There are two issues here. One is blocking others from getting a patent. The other is having the power to strike back if someone strikes at you first.
One of the features of the America Invents Act, which will be fully in force on March 16, 2013, and Canadian law since 1989, is that you can destroy the ability of anyone else to get a patent just by publicly disclosing your invention. You can do this by putting it on sale, arranging a public use or otherwise making the invention “available to the public.” This probably means explaining the invention to a member of the public that is free to use it. It is not necessary to file a patent application to bar others from patenting.
The other issue is having the power to stop others. That requires filing and processing a patent application through to grant. The Twitter proposed inventors’ assignment document would bind an employer not to sue others for infringing the inventor’s patent except in cases where the employer is being sued. This would mean that a patent costing $20,000 that is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing royalties won’t be used to collect royalties from non-threatening infringers.
Wouldn’t it be better to obligate the employer to issue two percent licenses of right and pay one quarter of the income to the inventor(s)?