M·CAM, Inc. releases Patently Obvious® on Kiva Systems, Inc.

Date:  Thu, 2012-03-22

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – March 22, 2012 – M·CAM, Inc. released its Patently Obvious® report today on Kiva Systems, Inc.

In its second-biggest acquisition, Amazon.com announced on March 19, 2012 that it would buy Kiva Systems for $775 million. Kiva started applying for patent protection a year before the company was founded (maybe Facebook should take note). If “proprietary” expectations in the form of patents were part of the premium paid by Amazon.com, the accounting for this acquisition will be interesting to see. Unfortunately, 75% of Kiva’s US patents appear to be commercially impaired. Instead of this March Madness, perhaps the acquisition price should have been right-sized to reflect not just Kiva’s robots, but the quality of the intellectual properties that may not adequately protect Amazon’s soon-to-be business.

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 Kiva Systems, Inc. can be found HERE.