Our partners included enterprise partners, ranging from Fortune 100 companies to small companies. Among our enterprise partners are US and international businesses. We've also received input from research organizations and tech transfer operations. We've sought and received feedback from inventors, a group we believe are the heroes of the knowledge economy. Friends in the IP profession were given opportunities to use and provide feedback. We also engaged investors, venture capitalists, private equity, analysts and others in the financial world to hear what types of tools would make a difference to them when analyzing companies or IP assets. This robust representation has led to better designs. Our development team built tools with these varied personas in mind, so that the suite would assist not only the largest of IP holders, but would be relevant and immediately useable by SMEs, individual inventors, and business professionals. We are confident that you will find these tools valuable for your endeavors.

The Japanese commissioner in Washington DC in the 1900's studying the American patent system said, "We have looked about us to see what nations are the greatest, so that we can be like them... We said, 'What makes the United States such a great nation?' and we investigated and found that it was patents, and we will have patents."

In the U.S., the inventor has a "first to invent" claim which is different from other patenting organizations throughout the world who generally utilize "first to file." Debate over this issue, and which model best influences economic development is ongoing. Some are concerned that a change in patent rights may harm the small startup and benefit the incumbents with deeper pockets. You can read more about this topic.

The idea for IP Street originated with Lee, a co-founder of the US's top ranked firm for patent quality, Lee & Hayes (Spokane, Seattle, Austin, Portland, Taipei, and Beijing). Lee became engrossed in the notion of mining IP data to plot business strategy when he was hired by an investment bank to predict the likely outcomes of the landmark NTP v. Research In Motion case. In the time since, he and his firm have come to represent six of the 10 largest patent filers in the United States, and Lee has become a recognized evangelist on the rise of intellectual assets in the U.S., China, and beyond. Lee gathered his colleagues at Lee & Hayes, some IP experts and others business strategists, raised funds, and went to work assembling the technologies and talent behind IP Street today.

Have an idea for an invention or want to know how much your invention is worth? IPstreet.com is a great place to begin. Our tools and resources will help enable you to better understand the world of innovation and the possibilities available to you. IPStreet.com's search tools will help you better understand patent analytics, patent searches and patent duration, as well as much more.