“It’s a Huge Case for the Patent-Law Community.” On One Side: Google, Facebook, Intuit. On the Other? IBM. “Because the patents are often unclear, there’s no way to know whether an infringement claim by a competitor or a troll is legitimate until you’ve spent $8 million in litigation fees,” said Mr. Schruers Ashby Jones in the Wall Street Journal reports this morning that a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., will hear arguments Friday over a fundamental question that has vexed the technology industry for nearly two decades: When is a piece of software patentable?
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The Wall Street Journal’s Small Business Blog featured recently a guest column by Antone Johnson on the use, misuse, and misvaluation of intellectual property. It’s probably of interest to valuators and financial consultants who are working with small business owners to value and growth their businesses. Venture capitalists, angel investors and start-up lawyers these days tend to be obsessed with “intellectual property,” or IP. And for good reason: In the information economy, the core assets of a new venture are likely to be talented people, the IP they create, and little else. To maximize future value, founders should…