IP Drivers for a successful SPAC transaction

Articles, SPAC + IP
IP Drivers for a successful SPAC transaction With twenty years of experience, the IP experts at Metis Partners have seen good M&A diligence and bad M&A diligence. Recent SPAC transactions have brought this into sharp focus. Are you seeking a SPAC to acquire your company? Maybe you are a SPAC Sponsor looking for the right acquisition. How can both parties ...

IP Assets Might Lift Some of the Dark Shadows Around the Retail Sector

Articles, Intellectual Property Assets
Missing intellectual property opportunities Having worked on IP valuations to support a number of CVAs in the last 12 months, we’ve seen many poor examples of retail businesses which are rich in IP assets (brands, store formats, online IP collateral, product partnerships etc.) that are contributing to revenue generation, yet the IP assets are still not being fully exploited.  We ...

Trade Secrets: How To Turn Knowledge Into A Valuable Intangible Asset

Articles, Trade Secrets
We all know the old maxim: “knowledge is power”. Here at Metis Partners, we utilise our expertise in the field of intellectual property strategy and monetisation to provide companies with the knowledge and skills they need to maximise the commercial exploitation of their IP assets. But knowledge comes in various forms, some of which can benefit your company and some ...

5 Ways an IP Holding Company Could Benefit Your Business

Articles, IP Holding Companies
5 Ways an IP Holding Company Could Benefit Your Business At Metis Partners, we like to describe intellectual property holding companies (“IPCos”) to our clients as an “insurance policy”.  It’s never too early to think about the strategic management of your IP and to “ring-fence” or separate these assets from the potential trading risks faced by your business. An IPCo is a form of special purpose vehicle whose function is ...

How To Benchmark and Build Your IP Strategy for Long Term Success

Articles, Intellectual Property Strategy
What to expect “In intellectual property terms, it took us ten years to be an overnight success!” Graeme Malcolm of M Squared makes a good point here, that building an effective IP strategy is a journey, not a destination. Graeme described intellectual property protection to be like a set of Russian dolls, slowly adding layer after layer of IP value, ...

Measuring Brand Value: Brewdog’s IP vs IPA

Articles, Intellectual Property Valuation
Do you know your IP from your IPA? Even an intellectual property newbie is aware that trade secrets should be closely guarded by any business owner. It’s what sets you apart from your competitors and allows you to provide a product to consumers that they otherwise couldn’t provide for themselves. So, what would happen if you opened your trade secrets ...

The Lockdown Crisis and the IP Opportunity

Articles, Intellectual Property
Of the many, many uncertainties surrounding the long-term impact of the coronavirus on human civilization, primary among them is its toll on the global economy. The prognosis is, sadly and predictably, not good. Alistair Darling, the former UK chancellor who steered the country through the 2008 financial crisis, predicts that Covid-19 has ushered in an economic crisis “far, far worse” ...

How Napster Transformed a Copyright Shutdown to a $70m Price Tag

Articles, Intellectual Property
What happened Last week saw the conclusion of a $70 million sale of Napster – the online music store and subscription service – to the UK based, virtual reality music concert start-up, MelodyVR. This sale has generated prolific attention in the music industry particularly around the turnaround of Napster, whose trading history is riddled with Intellectual Property disputes and financial ...

Rise and shine: IP Strategy, the Kylie Jenner way

Articles, Intellectual Property Strategy
How they forged ahead Kylie Jenner Inc. filed three US trademark applications for the phrase “rise and shine” in October. This is a nod to the three seconds of Kylie Jenner singing to her daughter during a video tour of the Kylie Cosmetics HQ, which went viral. In typical Jenner-Kardashian fashion, this “rise and shine” moment received 1 billion TikTok ...

Has Apple Bitten Off More Than It Can Chew?

Articles, Intellectual Property
The 10th September 2019 Apple Conference in California marked the launch of the much-anticipated iPhone 11 range, which included the iPhone 11 Pro and the unimaginatively named iPhone 11 Pro Max. Despite other products also being unveiled at the event, including the Apple Watch Series 5 and the new iteration of the iPad, the brand-new iPhone was most definitely the ...