INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IS UNDER ATTACK; OUR ALTERNATIVE TO LITIGATION

The intellectual property (IP) community is under attack. Both lawyers and inventors are keenly aware of it and many are actively trying to minimize its impact, but disappointingly many others are just waiting for the storm to pass and hoping it won’t inflict too much damage. We are under attack because of a few bad actors who created this crisis by abusing litigation. And as strange as it sounds, I am thankful that these bad actors have forced the IP industry to change the status quo.

In my opinion the entire IP industry has been asleep at the wheel for a very long time and now we are getting a wake up call. Our patents are at risk and we must take action to protect the IP industry that is essential to transforming inventors’ breakthroughs into the new products, new services and new innovations that stimulate America’s economy and create sustainable jobs.

Without enforceable patents American innovators and entrepreneurs become toothless tigers, and this becomes most apparent and problematic in the software industry. A quick scan of the booming M&A market yields that software is everywhere and central to some of the biggest transactions in history. Unfortunately, many in the IP community have chosen to stay away from software patents because they’ve become the primary target in the attack on IP. This is the biggest mistake that the IP community can make.

Software is everywhere. It is embedded in your intelligent hardware, it’s the Cloud, it’s Big Data, and it’s the Internet of Things (IoT). Software is an essential part of any recent invention or innovation. And if we can’t protect our inventions, what incentive remains for software innovation? Simply giving up on the protections provided by software patents is unacceptable because the ripple effect will have deep and lasting consequences for the U.S. economy, U.S. job creation and worldwide innovation. Saying that a software patent can’t exist because “a human is capable of achieving the same results with more time” is beyond ridiculous, in a world where time of the essence for everything.

Also, IP litigation has recently taken center stage with massive investments and attention being paid by IP investors, non-practicing entities (NPEs) and the entire IP community. Many have seen a significant ROI employing a litigation model over the past few years. Unfortunately, the IP community seems to have forgotten that litigation should not be the only focus in IP. And as the industry evolves the litigation model is just not strong enough to continue indefinitely.

Now is the time for the industry to self-regulate and make a positive change. We must move to save our patents and more particularly our software patents by proving we can create value, US jobs and tangible results by leveraging IP outside of litigation.

In my experience incubation is an incredibly effective alternative to IP litigation. Incubation creates value, concrete revenue, sustainable jobs and tangible innovations. Also, the incubator approach is much less expensive than litigation and has the potential to reach much higher exits within the current M&A market.

But, I’m not talking about a traditional incubator model that simply provides space and mentoring and stops at patent creation or quick prototyping. I am talking about a full business cycle approach called “360 Incubation” or “Life-Cycle Incubation”, which takes an idea from quick prototyping to product development to marketplace to exit. I am talking about a model with serious muscle that operates and manages the newly created companies and provides development, design, marketing and even sales teams. And a model that increases development speed, effectiveness and efficiency, while also maximizing stakeholder investment and minimizing risks.

As a leader of this new movement, our company, AKT IP Ventures, has partnered with IP leaders from around the globe eager to employ a litigation alternative model, which turns innovative ideas into successful businesses. In 18 months or less, AKT IP Ventures’ 360 Incubation model can execute a full business development lifecycle that takes an idea from quick prototyping to product development to marketplace to exit. And with our global salesforce comprised of carefully selected and enduring partnerships, we are able to push products to market on a global scale, ensuring higher internal rate of returns (IRRs), ROIs and ultimately exit valuations for our portfolio companies.

We recently launched a targeted $20 million incubation investment fund to scale AKT IP Ventures’ 360 Incubation approach. The fund will back the expansion of AKT IP Ventures’ portfolio of existing successful patent-based technology businesses and finance the creation and operation of 10 to 15 new IP-based companies in the mobile, multi-touch, wearables, IoT, big data and medical technology sectors that can be spun off into streamlined exits. This incubation investment fund builds on a proven track record of 170 successful software deployments, ranging from M&A, licensing and asset sales.

AKT IP Ventures believes in the power of patents in creating value, creating jobs and growing the U.S. economy. However, without the enforceable protections provided by patents America will lose an important competitive edge in the global marketplace. We hope that you will combat the attack on IP by joining AKT IP Ventures in this new alternative movement, which demonstrates that IP can create tangible and lasting value.

I look forward to your feedback on our alternative movement and AKT IP Ventures’ 360 Incubation model. Please contact us at inventor@akt.fund if you are an IP owner looking to turn your IP into a viable business, AKT IP Ventures is always looking to source new IP and ideas for 360 Incubation. Also, investors interested in the incubation investment fund can contact us at investors@akt.fund.