I was at my friend’s birthday party last night and had probably the most delicious rum I have ever tasted. It was a coconut rum that comes from a small country in central america called Belize. It has a population of approximately 80K people and is located between Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean sea. As for the rum, I found that the sweetness of the coconut juice balanced the alcohol extremely well. It’s too bad that they don’t sell this here in Ontario otherwise I would’ve bought a bottle today.
Situated in Toronto’s vibrant Queen Street West neighbourhood, the Mavrik Wine Bar is a must for any food and wine enthusiast in the Greater Toronto Area.
Mavrik is a new type of wine bar that caters to the GenX crowd by offering a cozy environment where one can enjoy a variety of small dishes and choose from a selection of over 40 wines. My personal favorites from the food menu include the fish tacos, kimchi perogies and cinnamon brown sugar donuts. As for wines, I’m a huge fan of red wines and enjoy the full body taste of the Hamelin Bay or Guardian Peak.
Despite Mavrik being only 6 months old, BlogTO recently rated it as one of the top ten wine bars in Toronto. Mavrik has also been featured on a number of publications such as Toronto Life.
For more information on Mavrik, check out the Mavrik website or follow their twitter or facebook account for updates and promotions.
I had thanksgiving dinner with the families of three of my American colleagues this past Thursday and it was quite a memorable experience.
It was my first time meeting the families and I was quite inspired by the 10 year daughter of one of my colleagues. She is battling cancer and her family recently moved 3000KM to start a new life here in Ottawa. She left behind close friends and is now in a completely unfamiliar city and country.
Despite these challenging circumstances, she is extremely upbeat and told us that evening how much she enjoys being at her new school and how the other kids are in awe of her excellent grades. When someone asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she said that she wanted to be a GOOD judge so that she can make the world a better place! I thought it was incredible how a little girl who has gone through so much suffering could have such a positive attitude and wants to be able to help the world when she grows up. I then realized that a big part of her positive attitude comes from the positive environment that her parents have provided her. Her parents are probably two of the kindest people I have ever met and the way they interact with their kids shows how much they love them and vice versa.
I think this just goes to show that we can overcome the most unfair and difficult of circumstances with a positive attitude and environment. It also made me realize how important it is to raise a family with two loving parents with very good hearts.
[To be published in December 2011 IPIC bulletin]
It has been an exciting year in the patent monetization industry with patent portfolios being exchanged for billions of dollars. The recent flurry of transactions has many patent owners wondering how much their patents are worth.
One recent transaction that received significant media attention was the auction of over 6000 Nortel patent assets, which sold for $4.5 billion. A patent sale of this magnitude was unprecedented considering that the patents alone were sold for more than all of Nortel’s other assets combined. The Nortel patent sale served as a wake-up call to patent owners on the possible value of their patents as revenue generating assets.
It is important for patent practitioners to have an appreciation for the valuation of patents. To determine the value of a patent, the patent should be considered from three perspectives: engineering, business and law.
From an engineering perspective, the patent is valuable if each of the elements in the patented claims can be found in a particular product, solution or process. This can be determined, for example, by reviewing publicly available documentation or through reverse engineering of the product alleged to be covered by the patent.
To determine if a patent is valuable from a business perspective, the revenues that the patented product or process is expected to generate over the remaining term of the patent must be forecasted and the amount of this revenue that is attributed to the patent must be determined, including any licenses. If the patent has already been licensed to cover products with significant market share, the patent may be less valuable from a buyer’s perspective.
Finally, from a legal perspective, the patent’s file history and specification must be reviewed to identify anomalies that may affect the scope of claim elements. Title transfers, the litigation history of the patent including any ongoing litigation will also affect the value of the patent.
Applying this approach to the Nortel patent sale provides insight into why these patents were considered so valuable:
1. There were patents in the Nortel portfolio that covered inventions that were applicable to current and future products in technology areas such as 4G wireless, internet infrastructure and software;
2. Having fundamental patents in these technological areas are forecasted to generate significant revenue and according to public statements made by Nortel, the patent portfolio was largely unencumbered with very few companies having licenses; and,
3. There did not appear to be any on-going litigation with any of the Nortel patents.
The Nortel patent sale raised awareness of both patent valuation and monetization. Understanding patent valuation and monetization principles can aid the patent practitioner when advising clients on patent prosecution and licensing strategies. Also as more patent owners realize that their patent assets can generate revenue, there may be more motivation to file additional patent applications and/or involve patent agents in implementing strategies for assessing the value of their patent portfolios.