Effectively Discharging Fiduciary Duties in IP-Rich M&A Transactions

Abstract

Introduction ............................................................................................... 88 I.Value of IP in Technology Companies and the Economy ...................... 91 A. Patent-Only or Patent-Driven Transactions .............................. 93 B. Identifying the Presence of and Estimating the Financial Value of Non-core IP ....................................................................... 96 II.Misconceptions About Companies’ IP .................................................. 98 A. Misconception: All patents owned by the company are core— needed to cover and protect the company’s products and services (or they are all needed for defensive purposes against competitors) ........................................................................... 98 B. Misconception: No operating company would want to buy our non-core IP ............................................................................. 98 C. Misconception: Patents (core and non-core) have the same value to the M&A buyer as they do to the seller, and the potential buyer will pay for that value ................................. 100 D. Misconception: Management will tell the directors if the company’s non-core IP has material value .......................... 101 E. Misconception: Our outside patent counsel will alert us about who infringes our non-core IP ............................................. 102 F. Misconception: Our advisors will value our core and non-core IP as part of the M&A process ............................................. 104 G. Misconception: Our investment bankers will consider strategic IP alternatives ...................................................................... 105