Quarterly Newsletter: January 2004

Disposable Hardware - what next?
A recent issue of TechWeb News magazine said it well - " it was bound to happen - a disposable computer". Made from paperboard no less and invented in Sweden by Cypak AB. Grand showing will be at the CeBit 2004 Exposition in Hanover later this month. Not surprising though, MeadWestvaco Packaging has already negotiated exclusive rights to the US market.

Another use for Surveys
Recent trends in calculating and proving Patent damages is of all things - surveys. Our favorite way to determine market trends and consumer acceptance is now being used to help determine damages in Patent litigation matters. This works best, of course, with commercialized products that are branded and have name recognition.

Venture Capitalists Treasure Chest
Investment trends from Venture Capitalists have been trending downward for the last four years. Less than 2% of the money and less than 6% of all financing deals are for "seed funding" for start-ups and early stage companies. Surprisingly, this is at a time when VC funds nationwide have a treasure chest of $66,000,000,000 (that's BILLION) of uninvested funds available!

Current Economic Expansion Due to Innovation
Economists have now completed economic analysis of the 20th century. Their findings? For the years 1900 - 1999, two-thirds of the economic expansion of our economy was due to innovation, not growth of traditional Industries. New technology and innovation is what drives the American economy. A recent study by the Monitor Group, Cambridge, MA concluded, "America's strength is Intellectual Property. We have lost our edge to manufacture commodity products but we excel at manufacturing ideas".

Can you Grow in Times of Change?
Innovation denotes new technology and technology denotes change. In fact, change is the essence of growth. Along with growth comes ever shrinking technology life cycles. How does this affect the value of a new discovery? Can this growth curve be predicted? How will this affect License fees and Royalties?

Call us for help. We are objective, third party analysts of new discoveries and emerging technologies.

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