INFORMATION UPDATE September, 2003 Number 48 A Monthly Publication of Shamel Information Services http://shamelinfo.com "Offering Information Solutions" Welcome to INFORMATION UPDATE, the free monthly newsletter for people who need to know. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ IN THIS ISSUE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ => Do It Yourself - Royalty and Licensing Rates => Did You Know? - Patent Searching is Like Brain Surgery => Notes, News and Announcements => Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information ************************************************************ DO IT YOURSELF - Royalty and Licensing Rates ************************************************************ Intellectual property offers many companies the unique opportunity to license in or license out for mutual benefit. Inevitably in the course of negotiations, questions will arise. "What is this worth?" "How do we determine a fair royalty rate?" "What would an equitable licensing agree- ment look like?" There is clearly no substitute for a knowledgeable and experienced patent researcher or intellectual property attorney. However, there are a few resources that corpor- ate decision-makers can look to for reference and guidance. One of these resources is The Patent Cafe. In its own words, "PatentCafe.com, Inc. is a network of information, e-learning, global patent data, online retail, community and ASP/enter- prise software properties serving the online Intellectual Property (IP) community." http://www.patentcafe.com One of the web sites in the Patent Cafe network is 2XFR, http://2xfr.patentcafe.com/. It is primarily an exchange where IP owners can list their technology and potential licensees can search for the technology they need. The site includes useful resources for both sides, including licens- ing guidelines, Patent Valuation Report, Patent Enforcement, Tech-XFR Reference Books, and Licensing Software. The Patent Cafe IP Bookstore also offers templates for non- disclosure agreements and licensing forms. There is a list at http://www.ipbookstore.com/forms.asp. Take some time to explore this site and see what looks useful to you. For more royalty rate information, you should also visit Royaltystat.com. Royaltystat offers a subscription data- base of comparable royalty rates drawn from Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The database is updated monthly, and at this time it contains about 1,475 license agreements with royalty rates. Royaltystat offers a variety of sub- scription packages ranging from $100 annual access fee plus $75 per document, to $3,750 annual access fee for 150 license agreements. http://www.royaltystat.com For more on intellectual property searching, see DID YOU KNOW? in the next section. ************************************************************ DID YOU KNOW? - Patent Searching is Like Brain Surgery ************************************************************ If you've never had surgery yourself, you probably know someone who has. When your life or the life of a loved one depends on the skills of the surgeon, you want someone who specializes in your area of concern. If it's brain surgery, then ideally the surgeon would be one who does nothing but brain surgery. It would be someone who has a wealth of experience in doing brain surgery and who knows what all of the nuances, possibilities, and "tricks of the trade." Similarly, if your business depends upon a thorough and accurate understanding of the patent literature, you don't want to entrust that to anyone but an experienced and very skilled patent searcher. Just as there are physicians who specialize in very specific aspects of medicine, there are information specialists who do nothing but patent and trade- mark searching. For referrals to experienced patent searchers contact the Association of Independent Information Professionals at http://www.aiip.org or the Patent Information Users Group at http://www.piug.org. The PIUG site also includes links to directories of patent attorneys. To bring the experience and knowledge of professional search skills to your business decisions, contact Shamel Information Services at 858-673-4763. ************************************************************* Notes, News, and Announcements ************************************************************* October 14-16 KMWorld and Intranets 2003, Santa Clara, CA http://www.kmworld.com/kmw03/ October 19-22 International Chemical Information Conference, Nimes France http://www.infonortics.com/chemical/ch03/03chempro.html October 17 Andrew Shamel Turns 21 Years Old, Glasgow Scotland October 26 Louis Shamel Turns 24 Years Old, San Diego CA March 7-10, 2004 International Patent Information Conference and Exposition, Lisbon Portugal http://www.ipi-confex.com/ Please let us know what you like or would rather see changed about Information Update. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The Shamel Information Services web site at http://shamelinfo.com contains Information Update archives. Just click on "Newsletters" and check for any issues you might have missed. Cynthia L. Shamel, editor Shamel Information Services AIIP President, 2003-2004 http://www.aiip.org Telephone: 858-673-4673 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Subscriptions to INFORMATION UPDATE are free. You may subscribe or unsubscribe by sending a message to: e-mail InfoUpdate at shamelinfo.com with SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Copyright 2003 Shamel Information Services Please feel free to forward this issue to colleagues, in its entirety. Other uses without permission may violate copyright. Online archives at http://shamelinfo.com/newsletter.htm ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^