Patent Law Practice Center

The Evolution of IP Driven M&A

Today’s IP Driven M&A seminar has kicked off live from San Francisco! The day’s first panel was entitled, “The Evolution of IP Driven M&A”, and featured Chairperson Ron Laurie, Jose A. Esteves, Mark F. Radcliffe, and Kira Kimhi. The panelists discussed the differences between tech patents and life science patents in regards to the roles they play in mergers and acquisitions. They also shared their experiences in the changing patent system and the emergence of strong non-practicing entities.

Here are some of the highlights:

*There are more acquisitions when dealing with life science patents because companies that are built on life science patents can’t really be separated from their patents.  What then happens is that when a buyer looks to purchase the life science patent, they often acquire the entire company as a whole. With life science patents, there is a separation between the patent and the ultimate product, but not really between the patent and the company. Hence, the frequency of acquisitions over mergers. (more…)

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