Case Study - Raising New Capital Through Patents

Anders Arvidsson, Director Value Extraction Services, Zacco Denmark A/S, Denmark

Based on experiences from patent transactions, potential buyers or licensors mostly see their return on investment in relation to the potential value the patents can generate. Their valuations take risks into account, such as infringement, design around and validity, as well as competing solutions, revenues, growth and expected duration of the product. If there is a likelihood that an actual or future product could be covered by a patent, this is also reflected in the value. Since the value of a patent as written on the patent owner’s balance sheet is normally based on the cost of obtaining the rights, the patent owner and the buyer will often have very different valuations. The methodology for patent valuation in this paper is based on a real case, which takes technical, legal and economic aspects into account. Both the patent owner and the buyer’s perspectives are reviewed.

Anders Arvidsson, is head of value extraction services at Zacco . He has more than 19 years' experience of developing, valuing and monetising patent assets in the corporate world. Zacco is one of Europe's largest full-service IP firms, with offices in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Germany. Mr Arvidsson works closely with clients to leverage the value of their intellectual property in Europe. He has provided customised services for clients that have an interest in monetising or investing in intellectual property. As a market maker, Mr Arvidsson has been one of the pioneers in creating the marketplace for IP transactions, which has helped to protect companies’ strategic product position and to maximise the value of their intellectual property. He is constantly seeking new ways of using intellectual property as a strategic tool to achieve competitiveness in the IP market, and has been selected for inclusion in the IAM 300 – the World’s Leading IP Strategists. Previously, Mr Arvidsson worked for Nokia, where he headed the patent acquisition team. He contributed to annual revenue capture from various investments and negotiated transactions involving multiple patent portfolios.

Zacco is a prominent full-service intellectual property consultancy with 15 offices in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Through legal consulting, market analysis, IP portfolio construction and risk management, we help our customers turn intangible assets into sustainable business value. Zacco has around 500 employees in all fields of intellectual property, including approximately 200 attorneys – of whom about 100 are experienced European Patent-, Trademark and/or Design Attorneys. Our staff also includes 40 Attorneys-at-Law and 200 knowledgeable IP administrators. The result is an IP firm that combines in-depth IP expertise with the business, legal and technical skills needed to ensure our clients a lasting competitive advantage.