Reflection on Class #4

Uzi, in class, described how he monetizes patents. He has had experience as an IP lawyer. With cross licensing you don't actually make much rewards. Uzi buys patents and sells licenses. A patent troll buys patents to assert them not against infringers, negotiating a settlement. $5 million per case is the average cost to assert a copyright. So they make their money on the cost of litigation. An infringement includes implementation of each and every element of a claim. It was interesting to look at real patents and see how the interpretation and legalese in patents translates into actual products. We looked at the Telepresence patent, which focuses on several elements of a claim. I wonder who is granting patents, what are their qualifications to understand these technical languages. I would think the more technical a patent is, the less easy it to be called prior art.

Overall, I enjoyed that Uzi focused on a specific patent and breaking it out in layman's terms.  I think this is extremely valuable for student entrepreneurs, especially when he focused on how patent claims can be infringed. Also, I enjoyed looking at the claim chart, using part of the screen to bring evidence for the claims.

Looking more into Uzi's company, I can see where his background in this subject came from. http://www.synpat.com/

From the website "SynPat is unique because for each portfolio of interest that we identify, we form a separate non-discriminatory acquisition syndicate of corporate clients having a direct interest in the target patents. The participating companies share the cost of purchasing the patents, and in return, they receive a non-exclusive license under the acquired portfolio. We make no profit from the acquisition, so our clients obtain their licenses at the minimum possible cost: our acquisition price divided fairly among the participants. With no transactional arbitrage, and no membership or subscription fees, our clients' license cost is kept to a real minimum. After we acquire the patents and grant the licenses to our participating clients, we offer companies that chose not to participate initially a second opportunity to acquire a license, this time at a premium that is used to pay back our clients so as to offset their contribution, which potentially can reduce the cost of their licenses to zero."

Seems like an interest concept which has both upsides and downsides. If you get in early in the syndicate, you are protected. If you discover it later or are approached by SynPat later, you may have to pay a licensing fee. I don't SynPat is patent trolling, but this could easily be used for patent trolling. It is interesting to see how patent acquisition entities are becoming more and more complex.