Come on a journey with us as we navigate the complex terrain of intellectual property (IP) valuation, a task complicated by IP's intangible nature and the vague market parameters it involves
We will reveal the motives driving IP valuations, the subjective nature of these valuations influenced by ownership and external factors, and the procedural steps for conducting an analysis.
We will explore how factors like timing and business maturity impact valuation outcomes, question the credibility of these valuations against market validation, and suggest ways for attorneys to enhance IP value for their clients.
Additionally, we will shed light upon recent trends in the IP valuation industry, providing a nuanced understanding of the blend of objective and subjective elements shaping the valuation of IP assets.
This session promises to be a thought-provoking exploration into the intricacies of IP valuation.
Moderator: Andrew Hicks - Field Law (CA)
Andrew Hicks is a senior patent agent in Canmore office of Field Law. He has over 25 years’ experience in the preparation, prosecution, and management of complex patent portfolios.
He began his career as a research engineer in Ottawa with a large multi-disciplinary biomedical engineering project before joining the patent profession in 1991. When he left the engineering world, he began his patent career in Ottawa with one of Canada’s largest IP firms.
Andrew’s practice is diverse, representing a wide variety of domestic and foreign clients before the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). His practice is focused on the creation and management of patent portfolios for domestic clients and devising appropriate domestic and international IP strategies to match the business objectives of his clients.
He has contributed to the creation of IP portfolios across a wide range of technical disciplines including biochemistry, chemical engineering, chemistry, mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, high technology and all aspects of the energy and oil and gas industries.
André Gorius - Winnotek (FR)
André Gorius graduated from the Ecole Normale Supérieure (Paris, 1985), where he obtained a PhD and became « Professeur Agrégé » in Physics. In 1988, he obtained a PhD and Habilitation (“Doctorat d’Etat ès Sciences”) in Chemical Engineering.
During his career in the Solvay Group since more than 30 years, he occupied various management positions such as R&D Director and Industrial Director in France, USA and Italy.
From 2006, he has been involved in the economic aspects of technology transfers, was Licensing Director, and created the position of Intellectual Assets Valorization Director he occupied until June 2019. In this position, I was in charge of all IP valuations concerning M&A, Acquisition, Sale and Licensing of IP assets, Tax and Transfer Pricing, and as a support to litigations.
Éva Kovács - Continest Technologies Plc (HU)
Éva Kovács is Head of Board at Continest Technologies Plc in Hungary and President of Continest USA. An entrepreneur and female founder, she has more than 15 years of experience in driving transformation in startups and enterprise companies.
She spent nine years in EU grant management and regional development when in 2009, she founded Fuszeresz, a spice trading company in Hungary.
In 2019, she founded and became the owner of IPGO Europe, and also took on the responsibility for all IP-related issues at Continest Technologies Plc, a newly founded startup producing temporary infrastructure solutions.
The Continest foldable containers offer an 80% cost reduction in logistics, significantly contributing to environmental sustainability. Continest has a mid-size patent portfolio that has been guided by Danubia since the early times of the company. Continest has raised two rounds of investments and currently listed 18th on the Financial Times TOP 1000 list of the most spectacularly developing companies in Europe.
Éva’s extensive expertise and innovative approach have made significant contributions to her field.
Levente Pethő - Danubia Group (HU)
Levente Pethő is a partner at Danubia Patent and Law Office, CEO of Danubia IP Innovation Consulting, vice-chair of the international LESI IP Valuation Committee and board member of LES Hungary. He is holding an MSc in Economics and obtained a qualification in industrial property rights protection and management by the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office.
Levente joined Danubia Group in 2012 and is currently responsible for the IP Valuation and IP management services within the firm, where he has led numerous IP Valuation projects, including transfer pricing, accounting, investment and transaction related assignments with respect to different forms of IP across multiple sectors of industry. He has experience in negotiating and structuring tech-transfer transactions, and has been working with multinational companies from Asia, North-America and Western Europe in setting up and optimizing their cross-border IP management processes, with special consideration to the regulation of inventions under employment, taxation and transfer pricing.
Recently, he has been working on creating the first comprehensive IP valuation training and certification program at AMAVI and acting as an IP valuation and monetization expert in a number of projects with the EU and the Hungarian authorities.