Services

Our business is to create value from technology. We solve the most challenging problems encountered with the management and commercialization of technology. iValue offers two core services : Technology Strategy Consulting and  Patent Portfolio Licensing. If you want to create shareholder value from technology, iValue can help.

Technology Strategy Consulting
iValue develops technology strategies that enhance shareholder value. Clients come from a wide range of industries such as high technology, healthcare, financial services, media, telecommunications, manufacturing, and consumer goods.

The work performed by iValue usually has three phases: Customer Opportunity; Technology System; and Economic Value. The Customer Opportunity phase identifies promising applications and develops a clear understanding of them. The Technology System phase lays out system design alternatives. The Economic Value phase estimates the amount of shareholder value that will be created. The approach taken is disciplined, fact-based, and quantitative.

Our references and qualifications are impressive. As stated in the June 2000 14D filing for Baan: "the … Technology Strategy Group (founded by members of iValue) … (was) retained to assist the Company in developing a revised business plan. In its original formulation (which was presented to the Management Board at a March 24, 2000 meeting.) The plan focused on possible sales or spin-offs of businesses or research and development units…and a significant restructuring of the business…(with) contemplated reductions in the annual cost structure of the business from approximately $720 million per annum to between $300 and $400 million per annum." A company press release from June 2001 summarizes the outcome: "…(the company) reported continued growth and profitability for the six months to the end of March 2001... customers and alliances have really responded to (the Company's) return to strength…"

Some additional areas where iValue has been involved are corporate-wide technology strategy, new business launches, R&D startups, knowledge management, biomedical informatics, molecular technology, e-commerce alliances, M&A, call centers, datacenter consolidation, technology transfer, asset management, asset recovery, staff modeling, CEO/n-1 coaching, outsourcing, portals, technology pricing, and technology operations.

For more information click VITA ™

Patent Portfolio Licensing
There is significant value hidden in the large number of underutilized patents at corporations and universities. These patents were invented by world-class scientists, involved substantial amounts of R&D funds to develop, and have been filed by top patent attorneys. Our Firebird™ service provides active management of this part of the corporate balance sheet or university endowment, using a modern focus on portfolios rather than individual patents. The margins achieved in monetizing these patent assets are as high as 90%. The patent portfolio licensing process has six steps: a) Identify the Most Promising Opportunities, b) Organize into Families of Inventions, c) Assess Return and Risk, d) Construct Preferred Combinations, e) Summarize the Monetization Strategy, f) Structure the Deals and Implement. To conduct this work a specialized team is assembled with the talent, knowledge, and relationships to recognize and capitalize on patent assets. As a professional firm, iValue serves the corporation and its management in creating shareholder value from patents or, similarly, the university and its technology transfer office in achieving their mission of commercializing inventions that benefit society while funding education and research.

In association with the above activities, iValue works with venture capitalists and companies as counterparties to a) understand their technology areas-of-interest, b) locate and analyze patents and inventions that meet their criteria, c) obtain the latest insights and research results from inventors, d) work with the technology transfer officers, and e) assist with licensing negotiations as requested. The scenarios where a venture capitalist or company might benefit from our services are:

• An early stage venture forming around a core set of patents
• A mid to late-stage venture that needs to strengthen its patent portfolio ahead of an acquisition of the company or IPO
• A mid to late-stage venture that has evolved into markets where it is exposed to a risk of patent infringement and needs to bolster its defenses
• Any venture or company that wants to focus on creating shareholder value from licensing IP
• A management team that prefers to be buffered from the meetings, research, negotiations, etc., that the patent licensing process involves
• Same as above but where a company prefers to remain anonymous during the pre-signing phases of patent licensing

iValue understands that corporations and ventures may require anonymity to explore entering into a formal patent license agreement, and the commercialization process allows for that. The end result of the Firebird ™ service is to place the right technology in the right hands at the right time.

For more information click Firebird™