Context: Since returning to the patent monetization business and founding Sauvegarder Investment Management (SIM) IP last year (December 4, 2024 ip fray article), Erich Spangenberg has made a series of acquisitions. These include a video patent portfolio from Finland’s Gurulogic Microsystems Oy (May 13, 2025 SIM IP press release), a portfolio of cloud computing, virtual networking and internet protocol address management patents from FusionLayer, Inc. (April 22, 2025 ip fray article), a haptics and extended reality (XR) patent portfolio worth hundreds of millions of dollars from Ultraleap (February 5, 2025 ip fray article), and “key 5G patents” from a South Korean university (November 2024 SIM IP LinkedIn post). SIM IP is currently in the process of going public on NASDAQ, using a vehicle named Spectral AI.
What’s new: During an online event focused on patent monetization, panelists Jennifer Burdman, Managing Director at SIM IP, and Anne-Mari Lummevuo, patent director at Gurulogic Microsystems Oy, discussed the role firms like SIM IP can play in helping patentees monetize the mountains of patents they may be “sitting on” through transactions, as well as assert those that are very much still relevant, as litigation funding becomes more and more “unnecessarily” complex. To allow sellers to have “breathing room” and because of the myths surrounding predatory licensing funding, SIM IP prefers to own the patents that it enforces, Ms. Burdman emphasized.
Direct impact and wider ramifications: During the discussion, the panelists also told attendees how their recent transaction came to be. Among the factors that SIM IP evaluated, Ms. Lummevuo’s future-proofing of the patent portfolio and willingness to be a partner is ultimately what got the deal over the line, Ms. Burdman said. While she noted that not every transaction will be as efficient as the one with Gurulogic was, the hope is that SIM IP can always inform prospective patent sellers what they are missing so they can monetize their IP – even if it’s with the next buyer they speak to.
The panel, moderated by Govind Kedia, Chief IP Consultant & Managing Director at Arctic Invent and director at Basck, discussed the following four items around patent monetization:
- How to build a valuable patent portfolio
- The decision process to monetize vs hold
- The nitty-gritty of the transaction process
- Key lessons for companies with legacy IP
- Myths attached to IP monetization
Mr. Kedia asked the panelists about their recent patent transaction.
Gurulogic’s Ms. Lummevuo, who noted that she first approached SIM IP after seeing Erich Spangenberg was back in the IP monetization game on ip fray (December 4, 2024 ip fray article), said this was one of the most efficient deals she has ever pursued.
This is not the norm in the industry, however. Often, IP monetization is a long-term project. While SIM IP always tries to be fast, with an average “go or no go” decision made within 30-60 days, Gurulogic’s deal was especially quick.
So what did Gurulogic do?
“It came to us with a package – Anne-Mari did her homework: she knew the right place to look for onetizable highlights for us to look at, she didn’t disappear after sending us an email, and she looked into the future when drafting claims with us,” SIM IP’s Ms. Burdman said.
The company does not buy patents from everyone that approaches them, but it does everything it can to ensure patentees have all information so they can go to a buyer and be successful with them instead. “Nobody should leave and be made,” she added.
Identifying quality IP
A lot of companies don’t see patents as monetizable assets, and the IP department is frequently separated from the business department, with interactions only occurring between the two when innovation occurs. Patents are often only looked at during the yearly budget meetings, as they are seen as a cost and not a money-making tool.
But, Ms. Burdman said, when you are a business looking to collaborate with others in the industry, the main focus is on patents, and if you are looking to be acquired, the main focus is on IP. If the patents are not being used, and they are related to good technology, someone will want them, she says, adding:
“So there are always ways to monetize it.”
To Ms. Burdman, quality is “in the eye of the beholder” and totally depends on where a company is in terms of its trajectory. Gurulogic’s initial patent portfolio had very different goals from those it has now, according to Ms. Lummevuo. Business scopes can change for several reasons, but instead of throwing out the patents it had already accumulated, the company found an alternate use for them – monetization.
But that still means the patents have to be of high quality from the start, she said. Think broadly when drafting and prosecuting them, and not only of the company’s own implementation, she noted. Ms. Burdman agreed, emphasizing that the claim scope needs to be thought of from the very beginning, and that the patent team can’t just be myopically focused on the business, but must also think about where the industry is headed.
Generally, they agreed, a quality portfolio will be able to answer the following questions positively:
- How are the claim scopes reading on our products and other products?
- Have you looked at the industry at large?
- Are those claims valid?
- Have you looked at prior art?
- Will they stand up in court?
Each of the panelists shared their top pieces of advice on successful IP monetization.
Jennifer Burdman:
- “Start thinking about these assets to be monetized early on;
- Think about your department as revenue-generating; and
- Don’t be afraid to say you can’t afford or need help with the monetization: there are resources out there, and the innovation deserves to be monetized – your company deserves that revenue stream.”
Anne-Mari Lummevuo:
- “Think before you trim: think before you abandon that Brazilian patent because management asked to cut costs;
- Do your homework: don’t expect anyone to buy your patents without you having shown them that they really need to have them; and
- Think big and far: think when drafting claim scopes and foresee the future, including those technologies that are not yet there.”
Towards the end of the event, the panelists also demystified several IP monetization concepts, including the idea of non-practising entities (NPEs) being “trolls”.
Demystifying IP monetization
Ms. Burdman reminded listeners that patents are not for “defensive acts” – they allow companies to prevent rivals from making, using, or selling the claim scope:
“They are an asset to be used. There is nothing in patent jurisdiction that says you must practice what you have put into this patent application, or that you can’t sell it to somebody who can make money using your patent. The idea that NPEs have lesser rights to assert these patents is a complete myth, and one propagated by companies who enjoy infringing these patents without ramifications.”
Ms. Lummevuo also told attendees that many companies believe that if they have patents, those patents have value and therefore anyone can buy them. “But, as in all sales, you need the customer to need the product,” she said.
To really get the counterparty to understand that it would be beneficial for them to buy your patents, it really boils down to what the patent has “eaten”, Ms. Lummevuo added.