Patent pools may flow in wake of latest alliance

Allied Trust points way to more IP collaborations

Rick Merritt, EE Times (07/02/2008 11:08 PM EDT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A group of 11 high tech companies that have combined their clout to buy, license and sell strategic patents may point the way for more patent pools to come in a maturing market for intellectual property.

Allied Security Trust I came out of stealth mode this week following a report Monday (June 30) in the Wall Street Journal. In an interview with EE Times Wednesday (July 2), the group's chief executive, a former vice president of IP and licensing at IBM, provided the most detailed disclosure to date about the group's goals and operations.

The group aims to lower the rising costs of patent litigation by proactively acquiring key patents as they come on the market. An increasing number of companies are asserting patents as part of their business, many of them so-called trolls who have no other products than the patents they buy, license and litigate.

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