The Assignment of a European Patent Portfolio: A plea for a Lex Proprietas
06-05-2009
Introduction
Intellectual property law is by definition international in scope. Immaterial objects, like inventions, designs, brands or works of authorship cross borders easily and in the cyberspace era such travels literally only require the push of a button.
Technology in particular can be easily applied on a global scale, if only because technology is unbiased by language or culture. In technology dominated industries like electronics, pharmaceuticals, software or household appliances, multinational companies have also been around for quite some time. If one then takes into consideration that past decades have seen a number of subsequent waves of international mergers and acquisitions and subsequent periods in which divestitures were the fashionable thing to do, it is obvious that international patent portfolios have had to change hands quite regularly. Moreover, even if their ownership would have remained the same, these valuable immaterial assets of corporations their intellectual capital may have been required as collateral for the financial needs of shareholders, banks and venture capital providers. In particular, for start-up companies, where IP rights may be the sole assets in the absence of established revenue streams, being able to use this intellectual capital for financing purposes can be quite critical for the survival of the company. The assignment or collateralization of international patent portfolios is becoming a more common phenomenon in a global knowledge economy in the Information Age.
The Assignment of a European Patent Portfolio: A plea for a 'Lex Proprietas'
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