Apr
2
The new Acacia business model
Posted by Dirk Avery at 10:09 am under Litigation, Patent.
Back in 1993, Acacia began business as a venture capital firm. After the dot-com bust, it changed business models and began managing intellectual property for small entities without the resources to effectively capitalize IP assets. According to Forbes’s Maurna Desmond most of Acacia’s deals with patent owners involve a 50/50 revenue split.
Recently shares of Acacia, a $191 million company based in Newport Beach, have risen as the company and its wholly owned subsidiary, InternetAd Systems, inked licensing deals and won in court. Licensing settlements and deals include agreements with Time Warner (and affiliate Turner Broadcasting System), Epson, Teletrac, Ryder Truck Rental, AOL, Condé Nast, McClatchy and DoubleClick.
Licensed technologies include backgrounds of instant messages, online ads appearing between web pages, and remote control and monitoring of networked imaging devices.
Desmond reports that Acacia CEO Paul Ryan says Acacia has no real competitors. With healthy profits and an apparently viable business model others are certain to follow Acacia’s lead.