Announcing AST’s IP3 2017 – a fixed price, fixed term collaborative patent buying program

Attention Patent Owners!

AST’s IP3 2017 Connects You To Great Buyers At a Price You Set.
New Fixed Duration, Collaborative Buying Program Builds on Last Year’s Successful IP3 Patent Purchase Program
AST’s IP3 2017 Gives Patent Owners Access to AST’s Full Membership – Some of the World’s Leading Technology Companies

May 1, 2017 – Attention patent owners! AST, the leading provider of proactive patent defense solutions, today announces the launch of IP3 2017 (Industry Patent Purchase Program), a fixed price, fixed term, collaborative patent buying program. The new program will provide patent owners access to all AST Members – dozens of the world’s most successful companies across multiple industries, such as information technology, software, semiconductors, communications, automotive, health tech, and social media – including Ford, Google, Honda, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Philips, SAP, Sony and Uber.

AST’s new IP3 builds on the success of 2016’s IP3, a first of its kind industry program designed to give sellers an easy way to access the secondary market by streamlining the process of selling patents with a fixed price, rapid response model. AST’s IP3 2017 still promotes the fundamental principles of last year’s Program with new modifications based on Member and market feedback. Open to its full Membership, AST plans to make fixed priced purchasing an ongoing part of its business, offering different installments of the Program to patent sellers, each one targeting specific patent areas and technologies. The IP3 Program announced today will focus on the following technologies:

• Internet of Things
• Wireless
• Content Delivery
• Networking
• Communications

“The success of IP3 among buyers and sellers and the strong results indicated a desire for more fixed price, fixed term, patent purchase programs, so launching a new IP3 is a natural evolution of this kind of innovative solution,” said Russell W. Binns, Jr., CEO of AST. “With our new Program open to all of AST’s Members, patent sellers will have access to prospective buyers from some of the world’s leading companies looking for high quality patents to acquire. We believe the new IP3 responds to our Members’ needs and creates a more efficient way to acquire certain assets. Further, because we are focusing on specific technologies for IP3 2017, we anticipate a very focused and efficient selection process for patent acquisitions.”

“AST has been a strategic force in building defensive IP strategies for years, and I worked closely with them during my tenures at Microsoft and Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P., and with my new role at Uber, I am delighted to once again be a Member of AST,” said John Mulgrew, Global Head of IP, Uber. “We found IP3 in 2016 to be very successful for us at Uber and look forward to being involved in AST’s IP3 in 2017. Last year’s IP3 proved that patent sellers are very interested in buying programs that help eliminate friction in the secondary patent market and increase efficiency.”

How to Submit Patents for Sale
Patent sellers and brokers are welcome to submit their patents for sale at a price they set via the AST IP3 portal: ast.com/IP3 from August 1 through September 30, 2017. The portal will go live in the coming days. AST will only consider submissions in the specific technology areas outlined above for this installment of IP3. Submissions outside of these areas will be routed to AST’s Standard Purchase Model. Sellers need only identify the patent family and price at which they are willing to transact. Each submission should contain only related assets, a preference will be made for single family submissions or related families.

Just like last year’s IP3 program, at the end of the submission period, AST and its Members will review all the submissions and let the submitters know whether there is interest in a purchase by November 21, 2017. Once AST contacts sellers about purchasing their patents, there will be additional diligence which will enable transaction closure in short order. It is anticipated that all transactions and payments will be completed by the beginning of 2018.

By June 1, 2017, more detailed information about the new IP3 will be found on ast.com/IP3 including a link to the submission form (which will go live on August 1, 2017), the applicable patent purchase agreement, and other important details. There are also terms and conditions that you should make sure you fully understand before participating. Participating sellers are encouraged to consult with an attorney prior to their submission. Throughout this process, AST reserves the right not to transact for any reason.

About AST
AST is the leading provider of proactive patent defense solutions. We offer a highly efficient, cost-effective and proven method of mitigating the risk of patent assertions and litigation by enabling our Members to collectively purchase assets available on the open market. Because we are an independent, not-for-profit cooperative, we provide a trusted and fully transparent way for Members to analyze patent purchase opportunities including triage, evaluation and acquisition services. AST’s Members currently include top global companies from a wide-range of industries including Ford, Google, Honda, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Philips, SAP, Sony and Uber. For more information on AST please visit http://www.ast.com.

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