M·CAM, Inc. releases Patently Obvious™ on the Intellectual Property of ArcSight, Inc.

Date:  Thu, 2010-09-16

M·CAM, Inc. releases Patently Obvious™ on the Intellectual Property of ArcSight, Inc.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – September 16, 2010 –– M·CAM, Inc. released its Patently Obvious™ report today on the patent holdings of ArcSight, Inc. On September 13, 2010, Hewlett–Packard entered into an agreement to buy ArcSight, a leading security and compliance management company, for $43.50 per share, for a total purchase price of $1.5 billion. ArcSight had been shopping itself around to several large technology companies, several of which reciprocated in their interest. In fact, a number of ArcSight shareholders are concerned that ArcSight and its board may have breached their fiduciary duties by entering into an agreement with HP before they has properly shopped for a deal, a process that would provide better value for the shareholders. In the rush to get a deal done, the agreed–upon purchase price of $43.40 a share may have been derived from an incomplete assessment of the assets of the company and the synergy value possible with other parties.

The clamor raised by ArcSight’s shareholders raises a valid question – is HP the best fit for ArcSight, or would another suitor be a better match? From a pure business operation standpoint, the value of a turn–key security management solution like ArcSight to HP or any of these aforementioned companies is readily evident with regard to potential enterprise product and service offerings. However, it is crucial to discern whether this is in the best interests of HP in the long run; HP is inserting itself into a high–traffic arena surrounded on all sides by companies that have a much stronger position in the space and may increase their litigation risk arising from third–party intellectual property. An analysis of ArcSight’s IP is in order to better address this question.

M·CAM’s Patently Obvious™ is a weekly report providing visibility into potentially unconsidered alternatives, including art in the public domain, to patent holdings across a variety of technology areas.

M·CAM, Inc. is a global, full–service intellectual property and rights (IP&R) and intangible asset financial services firm. We provide the technical and financial systems that allow public and private markets to use IP&R and IA for regulated transactions in banking, securities, insurance, and public innovation investment and technology procurement. From our pioneering work in creating the world’s first standards–based innovation collateralization financial products for banking and securities to our work in grassroots innovator enablement and patent quality assurance programs, M·CAM provides the mechanism to balance the interests of public and commercial sectors to support and build thriving economies.

The M·CAM Patently Obvious™ report on ArcSight, Inc. can be found HERE