M·CAM CEO named to the Board of Directors of The Arlington Institute

Date:  Wed, 2006-09-13

M·CAM CEO Discusses Asymmetric Collateral Damage at The Arlington Institute

Date:  Wed, 2006-07-19

PUBPAT News: Groups Challenge Stem Cell Patents That Loot Taxpayer Funds and Force Research Overseas

Date:  Tue, 2006-07-18

Dr. David E. Martin July 18, 2006 University of Wisconsin Affiliate Claims Rights to All Embryonic Stem Cells Used for Research. Santa Monica, CA — July 18, 2006 — As the U.S. Senate continues debate today on legislation to increase public funding for stem cell research, a consumer group and public service patent attorneys filed challenges to three overreaching stem cell patents that significantly undermine research and waste taxpayer money. The patent challenges filed today call on the United States Patent and Trademark Office to re-examine and revoke three patents that give the rights to all human embryonic stem cells used for research to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF). The groups estimate that the patents could result in hundreds of millions of dollars of research money being sent overseas each year. Already, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has funded scientists in other countries and calls the WARF patents a “major inhibition to productive scientific research.” “It is absolutely absurd that one person or organization could own the rights to life itself. But that is exactly what has happened because of these over-reaching patents,” said John Simpson, Stem Cell Project Director for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR). “The real debate in stem cell research is not about the science, but whether American scientists will be allowed to participate in the global laboratory.” The patents resulted from University of Wisconsin researcher James Thomson’s work to isolate stem cells. The basis of the challenges is that the patents on human embryonic stem cells should not have been granted in the first place, because the previous work of other scientists made the derivation of human embryonic stem cells obvious and therefore unpatentable. Dr. Jeanne Loring, a stem cell scientist and renowned authority on stem cell research, submitted a declaration in the support of the patent challenges. According to consumer advocates at FTCR and attorneys at the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT), the patents stymie research by allowing WARF to require researchers, including those receiving taxpayer grants, to pay royalties and seek approval before engaging in stem research. “WARF has been allowed to profit at the expense of public health while many American scientists have been barred from conducting life-saving medical research. These over-reaching patents threaten our health, waste taxpayer money, and send valuable research overseas,” said Dan Ravicher, Executive Director of PUBPAT. “We’re calling on the United States Patent Office to revoke these overreaching patents.” The groups said the patents’ dubious validity is underscored by the fact that no other country in the world honors them. As a result, U.S. researchers have sent research monies abroad where they can avoid paying royalties to WARF. FTCR and PUBPAT called on Congress to pass a resolution supporting the patent challenges. “These patents should have never been issued in the first place,” said Dr. Loring of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research. “The real invention was made 25 years ago, when embryonic stem cells were first discovered — and the scientists who discovered them didn’t expect a payoff. James Thomson just followed a recipe written by other scientists, and there’s nothing patentable about that.” California voters approved the nation’s largest publicly funded research program in 2004 with Proposition 71 which allocated $3 billion in grants over the next 10 years. For an overview of state stem cell programs and pending legislation go to ‘Cures For California'(Link found below). FTCR and PUBPAT filed challenges against three patents previously granted to WARF. Copies of the Requests for Reexamination and Dr. Loring’s supporting Declarations can be found at http://www.pubpat.org/warfstemcell.htm. The Patent Office will review the challenges and decide whether they raise issues that are substantial enough to justify re-examining of the WARF patents. If re-examination is started, WARF may make opening statements to the Patent Office, to which FTCR and PUBPAT can respond. After opening statements, the Patent Office will proceed to determine whether WARF’s Patents are indeed invalid in light of the issues raised by FTCR and PUBPAT. Third party requests for reexamination, like the ones filed by FTCR and PUBPAT, are successful in having the subject patent either changed or completely revoked roughly 70% of the time. Read John Simpson’s Op-Ed explaining the need for the patent challenges at http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/healthcare/co/?postId=6532

M·CAM CEO Discusses Global Economic Changes at the Arlington Institute

Date:  Wed, 2006-07-12

Dr. David E. Martin July 12, 1006 At the turn of the 19th century, Napoleonic exploits heralded the end of the “sovereign” and gave rise to tangible property commercial private banking and asset-backed finance. At the turn of the 20th century, the emergence of efficient transoceanic and transcontinental commerce gave rise to central banks and gold standards enabling the industrial economy. At the dawn of the 21st century, we face the realization that the tangible economy and its attendant modes no longer can be represented or financed using the convention of the “balance sheet.” Value and risk are now the exclusive domain of the intangible and the asymmetric. Presaged with the collapse of the 2001 WTO debates in Doha, heralded with the recent stock market multiple personality disorder, and against the growing drumbeat of currency strain, global finance is about to experience the collapse of the tangible, industrial market paradigms and the emergence of the intangible, asymmetric risk capital era.

• In 2005, the U.S. and international governments canceled or curtailed sovereign immunity from infringement liability previously afforded to government contractors.
• In 2006, the U.S. Justice Department argued to encourage patent infringement when it feared the loss of Blackberry while the Commerce Department decried intellectual property abuses in China.
• In 2008, all banks and financial institutions will have to test their loss reserves for their exposure to “intangible economy risks” under the Basel II Accords. Neither their internal systems nor external business practices are prepared — anywhere.
• Over $1.5 trillion in uninvested capital in the Islamic world — to grow to as much as $3 trillion by year’s end — directly or indirectly stands ready to move into diversified currencies further destabilizing weakened dollars, yen, and euros.
• Infrastructures designed to arbitrate to whom proprietary limited monopolies are granted have been shown to be unsustainable and overly provincial giving rise to the emergence of “sovereign-backed” monopolies the likes of which have never been seen.
• The presumed hegemony of the Trilateral countries in terms of invention and innovation is increasingly challenged by the “Silk Road Axis”.

The Arlington Institute

Dr. Martin presents IP finance lecture to Howrey LLP executive practice

Date:  Fri, 2006-06-02

Dr. David E. Martin June 2, 2006 M·CAM CEO David Martin provided a lecture for the Howrey LLP leadership staff unveiling the changing role of IP lawyers in a world in which the financial markets increasingly rely on intangible assets for corporate and commercial valuation.

Patent Asserted Against JPEG Standard Rejected by Patent Office as result of PUBPAT Request

Date:  Tue, 2006-05-30

Dr. Martin presenter at Generics, Supergenerics & Patent Strategies Conference, London, UK

Date:  Mon, 2006-05-15

PIPRA agriculture innovation database goes public

Date:  Fri, 2006-05-05

M·CAM CEO highlights intellectual property rights in the financial services sector

Date:  Tue, 2006-04-25

M·CAM announces the acquisition of Mosaic Technologies Inc.

Date:  Fri, 2006-04-21

Dr. David E. Martin April 21, 2006 M·CAM announced the acquisition of Mosaic Technologies Inc. at its annual meeting today. Founded in the mid-1990’s, Mosaic was an international pioneer in technology development, transfer and financing. During its peak, Mosaic managed the creation of over 7 corporations and was involved in technology development and commercialization efforts in Russia, Japan, Europe and the United States. Founded by Dr. David Martin, Mosaic Technologies Inc.’s last venture creation effort was the formation of Mosaic Collateral Asset Management – today’s M·CAM.

Freedom to Innovate and Freedom to Operate

Date:  Sat, 2006-04-01

M·CAM sponsors Soweto Gospel Choir concert in Charlottesville

Date:  Thu, 2006-03-30

M·CAM CEO Addresses WIPO Forum on the draft Substantive Patent Law Treaty in Geneva

Date:  Thu, 2006-03-02

Dr. David E. Martin March 2, 2006

Dr. David Martin, CEO of M·CAM and Intellectual Property Finance Fellow at the Batten Institute at University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration will be addressing the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Open Forum on the draft Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT) on March 2. The Forum was assembled by the member States of WIPO at the 32nd session of the General Assembly in the context of discussions on the establishment of a work plan for the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) in respect of the draft SPLT. The SCP has been discussing the draft SPLT since May 2001. Although a number of issues in the draft SPLT have been agreed in principle, there are a number of outstanding issues that require further consideration. The Forum will address various issues that have been raised in the draft of the SPLT or that Member States may wish to include in the draft SPLT.

During this time of extreme international trade focus on matters of Intellectual Property law and enforcement, this Forum will bring together policy makers and experts from around the world to seek to better define the ground rules for improved patent treaties.

M·CAM, Inc. (M·CAM) is a full-service intellectual property rights actuarial company dedicated to developing, enabling and promoting uniform accountability and quality standards for the granting, use, and disposal of such rights in the global economy. From our pioneering work in creating the world’s first standards-based innovation collateralization financial products for banking and securities to our work on international grass-roots innovator enablement, M·CAM endeavors to balance the interests of the public and industrial development supporting creativity to build thriving economies.

Dr. Martin’s work with the Batten Institute at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia and his related work at the Indian Institute for Management in Ahmedabad India has brought unprecedented curricular focus to areas of intangible asset risk management, finance, and accounting standards. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Martin has closely advised intellectual property based finance and investment programs in India, China, Denmark, the European Union, the United Kingdom, South Africa, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates.

More information about the conference can be found at WIPO.

Dr. Martin’s conference materials can be found at: Materials.

M·CAM announces release of M·CAM DOORS™ Version 6 with Added Corporate Financial Data

Date:  Wed, 2006-02-01

Dr. David E. Martin February 1, 2006 M·CAM&#174, the world leader in intellectual property analytics and financial risk management, releases M·CAM DOORS&#153 Version 6, the gold standard intellectual property risk management system. In addition to the world’s largest standardized database of patents and patent related information, M·CAM DOORS&#153 Version 6 now provides access to SEC filings, more extensive legal status and patent family information, multi-lingual support in the Compass document viewer, and enhanced presentation and visualization features. In addition, Sextant, a world class competitive analysis and trending tool, has returned in a much more powerful form in M·CAM DOORS&#153 Version 6. For more information about the use of M·CAM DOORS&#153, please contact M·CAM at +1.434.979.7240 or visit us at www.m-cam.com.

M·CAM Presents IP-Backed Securities Trading Model to the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX)

Date:  Sun, 2006-01-22

Dr. David E. Martin January 22, 2006 In their on-going effort to build knowledge economy focus both regionally and internationally, the DIFX invited M·CAM to present their IP-Backed Securities trading model for consideration by the exchange.

Dr. Martin addresses International IPR Policy Reforms at the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Seminar Series

Date:  Mon, 2005-11-14

M·CAM and Darden Business School Case Studies Debut

Date:  Wed, 2005-11-02

M·CAM’s CEO and Fellow of the Batten Institute, David Martin and the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration’s Dean, Robert Bruner, have announced the publication of the first educational case studies emanating from the Batten Institute’s Intellectual Property in Business and Fincance fellowship program. Collaborating with faculty members Paul Simko and Mary Margaret Frank, these cases represent the critcal educational resources for business school curriculum. For more information on these cases, please refer to the following resources:

• For the Dupont Patent Donation Case Study, please refer to: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=908104
• For the GE Amersham Acquisition Case Study, please referto: https://store.darden.virginia.edu/business-case-study/general-electrics-acquisition-of-amersham-plc-3869

M·CAM tax shelter forensics contributes to unprecedented IRS settlement initiative

Date:  Fri, 2005-10-28

M·CAM Discusses Role of Innovation Risk Management

Date:  Thu, 2005-10-20

Dr. David E. Martin October 20, 2005 M·CAM Discusses Role of Innovation Risk Management in Federal Contracting and SBIR Phase III Programs with Partner, CIT. Innovative Partnerships 2005

M·CAM Comments on IRS Patent Donation Enforcement

Date:  Mon, 2005-10-17

Janet Novack Excerpted from Forbes – October 17, 2005 pg.56 For years the Internal Revenue Service tried to crack down on folks donating clunker cars to charity and taking inflated deductions. Now it’s doing the same to companies that took billions of dollars in charitable deductions for donating what could be clunker patents. The IRS has already disallowed $1 billion in patent deductions and is auditing another 50 companies that claimed $4.7 billion worth of contributions. The first public battle involves Procter & Gamble. In October 1999 P&G donated 40 patents involving injection moldings to the Milwaukee School of Engineering and claimed an $86.5 million charitable deduction. It predicted that revenues from their commercialization “could exceed $1 billion annually.” In fact, they were never commercialized. Advances in computerized machining have “pretty much passed” the technology by, says Vito Gervasi, who directs the Milwaukee school’s research in the area. Such appraisals, however, typically calculated the patents’ “market value” on the sales a hypothetical company with plants and distribution in place might reap–not their value to a not-for-profit, says David Martin, chief executive of patent valuation firm M·CAM, an IRS consultant. The valuations also ignored the fact that if there had been corporate buyers ready to pay so much for patents, they would have been sold, not donated. Martin says some companies took deductions for patents they retained an interest in (a clear no-no), for disputed patents and even for inventions they hadn’t won patents for. This kind of nonsense won’t be happening for long. Clunker Patents