U.S. Patent Law Changes from "First to Invent" to "First to File" Standard.  Plus:  New Discount on Filing Fees for Small Businesses and Inventors   This spring, patent law in the United States moved from a first-to-invent to a first-to-file system. The new law—called the America Invents Act (AIA)—puts the U.S. in harmony with most patent systems around the world, but it’s also a big change for inventors an ...

A Disparity in Valuation Prices Between Companies Large and Small in Similar Industries Adds to Investment Challenges   Jwalit Vyas at The Economic Times (India) illustrates how a wide disparity in valuation between companies large and small offers an additional challenge for business owners, investors, and financial consultants.  Here's more:  ...

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is Aggressively Policing Fund Valuation Practices in the Hedge Fund Industry     Kris Devasabai at Risk.net reports that hedge funds, under pressure from regulators and investors, are establishing robust pricing policies for hard-to-value assets.  They are also hiring independent experts to price complex and illiquid assets as investors and regulators intensify th ...

An Overly High Valuation Can Scare Away Investors or Spark a Down Round that Dilutes an Earlier Angel Investment      Mark Boslet at PE Hub explains that with IPOs on track to have their biggest year since 2010 and some major technology disruptions sparking infectious excitement, it's important to keep in mind key fundamentals including not accepting too high a valuation for your business or investment prop ...

Industry Moves to Enhance Transparency of Investments Holding More Than $93 Billion in Assets  The Investment Program Association (IPA), a trade association for non-listed, direct-investment vehicles, announced recently the adoption of the IPA Practice Guideline for the valuation of publicly registered, non-listed real estate investment trusts, The Wall Street Journal reported.   Here's more from a Globe Ne ...

 On the Horizon Offers Two Examples of Appropriate Ways to Apply FASB Guidance.  Plus: New Guidance on Reporting Discontinued Operations and Not-for-Profit Entities Grant Thornton recently published a useful article on applying the equity method in its On the Horizon web-based publication, which also notes that the Fair Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has suggested new guidelines for reporting discontinue ...

Plus: Bishop v. Commissioner Rules on When and Whether a Bad Debt Loss Can Be a Claimed Deduction In Schwab v. Commissioner, a case turns on when a variable universal life insurance policy is a taxable event.  In Boone Operations Co., LLC v. Commissioner, find out when contributing fill dirt to the city of Tucson is or isn’t a charitable or taxable event. ...

The Most Critical Challenges Confronting Medical Practices Physician practices face a common set of challenges today, and Reed Tinsley explains key issues that practice owners, valuators, and financial consultants should focus on together in order to control costs, build incentives, ease management, and strengthen growth. ...

Over 85 Percent of the World’s Information is Stored Electronically, and Over 50 Percent of that Information is Never Printed Out With over 85 percent of the world’s information stored electronically, and over 50 percent of that information never printed out, it’s more important than ever to make sure that electronic discovery related to pending litigation is performed thoroughly—and tracks information on m ...

Why VCs and Private Equity Pros are Sensitive to IRC 409A Valuations Rand Curtiss weighs in on why IRC 409A option-related valuations for small businesses do not solve real business problems for them. They set minimum exercise prices, asserts Curtiss—but that’s all they do. ...

SUB HEADING TEMPLATEINTRO PARAGRAPH TEMPLATE ...

It’s Responsible and Efficient to Begin Appraisals by Granting Certain Assumptions and Respecting Precedent. Here’s Why. All kinds of news, findings, and rulings come out that might affect the work of financial consultants and appraisers every day. When can you know when a precedent is important or something you can ignore? Or, put another way: what information is most important to pay attention to? Rand Cu ...

What is Considered Good Business Sense Today May Be Considered a Breach of Fiduciary Duty Tomorrow. Pay Special Attention to Fairness Opinions. Are your clients risking liability as they complete their daily tasks? What is considered good business sense today may be considered a breach of fiduciary duty tomorrow. That possibility is increasing. Business appraisers should pay special attention to fairness op ...

Understanding Both Sorts of Appraisal is Critical to Valuing Minority, Partial Interests in Holding Entities that Own Real Estate and Other Assets that are Gifted, Sold, or Otherwise Transferred   Randolph Glennon, MAI, CRE, MBA, and president of Eastern Appraisal & Consulting in Portland, Maine, explains in the New England Real Estate Journal why there's growing need for appraisers who understand both ...

Case Summaries from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the Appeals Courts of the Sixth and Seventh Circuits A corporation lies in applying for federal loan guarantees—and faces treble damages in United States v. Anchor Mortgage.  In Naylor v. Invacare, plaintiff’s request for information plays a key role.  Find out more. ...

There’s an Important “Crime-Fraud Exception” to Attorney Privilege Experts Need to Be Aware of. Here are Some Key Legal Guidelines to What Is and Isn’t Legally Protected Communication When experts counsel business owners and represent them legally, what is the legitimate scope and possible limits of attorney-client privilege?  Jim Hitchner reviews the findings of a key 2009 decision by The New York Supreme ...

Earnout Variables Often Account for 15 to 25 percent of Purchase Price in many Middle Market Acquisitions. Here are Tips for Structuring Them Carefully Earnouts typically appear in a large number of middle-market deals, usually accounting for 15 to 25 percent of the total purchase price.  While an earnout can to be an elegant solution to “close the gap” between seller and buyer, the fact is earnouts are com ...

The Thought of Every Employee Working Together with a Shared Vision of Business Success is a Dream Situation for Companies.  Here's How to Make it Happen.  Gary Davie Friday at Management Today weighs in on how in 2012 the U.K. government (Management Today is UK-based) announced its support for employee ownership, recognizing its ability to promote long-term thinking and growth.  Since then, a number of leg ...

Tricky Problems Must be Shaped Before they Can be Solved.  To Start That Process, and Stimulate Novel Thinking, Leaders Should Look Through Multiple Lenses  In the April 2013 edition of McKinsey Quarterly, Olivier Leclerc and Mihnea Moldoveanu outline an approach for taking a number of different approaches simultaneously to solving difficult problems. These involve flexible approaches using team expertise. ...

Held at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC, the Annual Consultants’ Conference Will Feature 57 Sessions Covering the Highest-Demand Specialty Areas in Financial Consulting  The National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) and the Consultants’ Training Institute (CTI) will collaborate to host the 2013 Annual Consultants’ Conference, June 5–8, 2013, in Washington, DC.  Themed “Innovate. Co ...