In Nortel's recent bankrupcy, the liquidation of the IP assets led to a bidding war. Google offered $900M for the patents; Apple and Microsoft created an alliance (with RIM, Sony, EMC, Ericsson) to offer $4.5B for the same patents^. Certainly there was a great disparity in these bid prices. How can you objectively determine the value of a portfolio and patent duration. Let the tools at IPstreet.com help you.

We offer tools that can help you dig into complicated patent information and make sense of all of the complexities in relation to your inventions and how you want to commercialize them. Certainly we are in business to make a few dollars, but we emphasize that our top priority is to provide IP intelligence (IPI) to help you succeed. With this in mind, we are in the process of developing ClubInnovate, an exclusive community for inventors.

Patents have a maximum life of 20 years and, therefore, a 20-year potential monopoly. Patents that are just beginning their life and which have longer to run on the their potential monopoly position understandably will have more value. It is rare that a patent nearing the end of its term will cause a great threat to its competitors. It is almost certain that they will have devised technologies or products of their own by then that will not interfere with the patent owners monopoly position. In addition, one has to take into consideration the potential business life of a patent, i.e., the duration, which a patent is likely to be economically useful, if other subsequent patents are providing better alternatives to it.

Performing patent-searches comprehensively with the ability to Search-Review-Refine-Iterate™ is a fundamental benefit of our IP Street tools for you, the IP counselors of the world. IP Street has developed a unified search that makes boolean search at the USPTO seem like a tool from the stone age.

Resources are limited. Which patents should we maintain? Should we maintain international fees? Which patents pay the best royalties? Such questions are essential to perform IP audits consistently. A major limitation to make this happen is the lack of organization. With IP Street, we can help you quickly and easily search your universe of patents to get your 'House in Order.' Our patent search tools will assist you significantly.