Business Models

IP Decisions, Strategies, Business Models

This topic will examine financial and business issues centering on legally enforceable intellectual property (IP) rights. We begin with an overview of the major types of IP -patents, copyrights, and trademarks- and then look at common decisions that businesses make with respect to their IP rights: how many of these rights to acquire, how to use them to advance business goals (license, enforce, etc.), and how to form separate profit centers to “monetize” IP. Next we will consider a number of emerging IP-based business models: patent assertion companies (i.e., “patent trolls”); various entities designed to offset or combat trolls; IP-based “spinouts” from large companies; IP brokers; and others.