In Motion

Intellectual Property Consulting -

We partner and create alongside an entrepreneurial, forward thinking (tier 1) intellectual property group:

Patents / Trademarks / Copyright / Trade Secrets

The group is 170 person strong (Attorneys, Engineers, Scientists, Agents) with deep industry expertise in virtually every technology category. They provide complete global IP protection, help on transactions, licensing and assist with IP business strategy based on a company's expertise, needs, goals, and business initiatives.  Global Protection / Monetization - Aligning IP Strategy with Business Strategy.

— It’s been said. That, ideas, innovations, and other intellectual based assets are rapidly replacing land, energy, raw materials, and labor as the engines of growth for many companies around the world. Making Intellectual Property one of the most important business assets of the 21st century.

However, the truth is, that IP value is largely not understood in the capital markets. While it might be the most valuable asset a company owns, current accounting standards typically do not allow internally developed IP to be valued in the company’s balance sheet. To truly assess its value, you need to do a strategic analysis of those assets. That is what we do.

In 2019 I teamed up with two individuals from the aforementioned IP group (Chris A. and Steve G.). We worked together on a weekly basis for the next six years (and refer to ourselves as the 3 amigos). As some of our previously, separate work came together (capital markets for me, and intellectual property for them), it was only a matter of time before some of our thinking came together as well. And, one day while discussing opportunities as well as some software that Chris was creating, it hit me like a ton of bricks (throughout all my years in Wall Street, I would hear plenty of talk on financial due diligence, trade due diligence and commercial due diligence, but, never, ever, did I hear talk on IP due diligence, never mind a deep dive type of assessment — this became our, Aha moment!). For the next few months, we did a lot of research which we shared with each other, it helped us to eventually create an IP due diligence product (an IP value discovery service offering). Today, we do an intense examination of a company’s Intellectual Property to help clients better understand the value of those IP assets. We help, to make sense of massive disparate data sets in real time and turn complex data into actionable intelligence. We offer deal insights that rivals do not know exist.

So, we challenge you: Allow us to do a deep dive due diligence on the IP portion of the transaction that you are looking at (before the transaction takes place), our work will fully compliment the financial due diligence that you are doing on the enterprise value (for, acquisitions, mergers, or divestitures). When done, we will hand over a forty plus page report, which will give you thorough intelligence and insights on that portfolio (everything you’d want to know and more), which you and your management team can use to make sense of those assets, and truly assess whether to close the pending deal asap, due to the value it will bring to your new business model, or maybe, quite the opposite, enough reasons to walk away, and possibly avoid an eventual write-down or worst, a huge write-off a few years down the road.

We would be happy to meet with you in person or via a video call to present our service offering for mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and other corporate transactions. See, two-slide brochure on the service offering. Also, should your needs require a much broader corporate and/or business intelligence search. Take a glance at our proprietary (patented) corporate intelligence platform and what it provides: CompanyGenomics (both links are below).

Franco Ventures-Corporate Intelligence Platform (CompanyGenomics).

Michael Best & Franco Ventures - Strategic Opportunities Revealed (JF)

Partner: Christopher Austin

Engineer / Attorney / Founder / Consultant
Co-Chair, Intellectual Property Practice - Michael Best

As intellectual property counsel to many technology and manufacturing-driven companies, Chris provides strategic, business-centric counsel regarding the protection of intellectual property assets. His practice focuses on:

• Domestic and foreign patent preparation and prosecution
• Patent portfolio management
• Establishment, development, and management of intellectual property systems
• Intellectual property transactions, such as patent portfolio acquisitions and divestitures; public and private financing relating to client patent portfolios; patent auctions on behalf of sellers and buyers; and all aspects of development and joint development ventures, including intellectual property ownership, confidentiality, financial structures and terms, enforcement, and product supply
• Preparation of patent opinions of all types, including patentability, patent clearance, patent infringement, patent invalidity, and state-of-the-art/landscape opinions

Chris has written and spoken extensively on a wide variety of intellectual property topics with a particular focus on the assessment and understanding of how intellectual property assets and portfolios relate to businesses.

Notable examples of Chris’s IP skills and expertise include:

• Developing patent protection for a broad spectrum of IP budgets and IP portfolio sizes. In one example for a Fortune 100 client, Chris expanded protection for key company technology by leveraging a single undervalued U.S. patent application into a family of 10 mission-critical U.S. patents. In another example for a much smaller Midwest corporation under tight financial constraints, Chris secured lasting patent protection for a best-selling product line that kept competitors at bay while the client expanded product offerings into new retailers and distribution channels.
• Conducting IP due diligence investigations and preparing IP due diligence reports in connection with M&A and other corporate transactions, organization financing, yearly reporting, and other activities.
• Utilizing patent application filing strategies that maximize value, including foreign filing strategies tailored to consider business and competitor realities, and continuation and divisional patent application tactics to increase product protection while amplifying market uncertainty and risk for competitors.
• Auditing and “right-sizing” patent portfolios to better match the business goals of clients.
• Preparing, filing, and prosecuting patent applications in multiple countries. Chris has extensive experience with patent application rules and procedures across the globe. His first two years of practice were with a well-known international IP firm in which most of Chris’s patent work involved European, Asian, South American, and international patent application preparation and prosecution before dozens of patent offices worldwide.
• Working with engineers, scientists, and other inventors to identify and harvest inventive technology, such as by conducting R&D reviews and ideation sessions.
• Identifying and pursuing disruptive patent protection for clients with a focus on next-generation technology.
• Summarizing patents and patent portfolios appropriate for every audience within an organization.
• Distilling complex patent families into forms digestible by organizations to make business decisions.
• Identifying multidisciplinary strategies for patent protection of inventions, including appropriate and effective combinations of utility and design patent practice.
• Leveraging creative and diverse claim types in patent applications (e.g., apparatus, method, system, kit, and the like).
• Managing patent enforcement activities, including counseling on patent enforcement strategy, negotiation, timing, and budget for patent litigation and inter partes review proceedings.
• Advising clients in defending businesses and activities in patent disputes, whether against competitors, non-practicing entities, or other parties.
• Defending patents against infringement for clients including a world-leading manufacturer of cleaning and hygiene products for a multitude of industries.

IP Portfolio Management and Analytics

Chris specializes in reducing IP portfolio inefficiencies by identifying appropriate IP systems for client implementation. In this process, Chris calls upon his experience with different IP systems and organizational structures utilized by dozens of IP clients. Clients benefit from this process by having increased coordination and control of IP portfolios, improved ability to make sound IP-related business decisions, greater value extraction from IP assets, and reduction in IP spend.

Chris has developed a variety of software applications and platforms to increase his ability to deliver IP services currently unavailable on the market. These include different software packages for:

• Monitoring IP transactions;
• Mapping patents and patent portfolios with as many as six dimensional parameters per patent asset or patent family;
• Determining patent and technology overlap between organizations;
• Summarizing patent portfolios in “dashboard” format; and
• Tracking and forecasting patent spend; and predicting patent application filing activities by organization and technology.

Chris leverages these and other tools in several ways, such as to consolidate poorly organized and disparate IP portfolios into a single efficient organization-wide IP portfolio.

IP Team Management

Chris coordinates the efficient and timely delivery of IP services by client service teams of all sizes, from one or two-member teams for small companies and start-ups, to teams of more than 30 IP practitioners needed for the IP demands of multibillion-dollar organizations.

Chris currently represents six international multibillion-dollar corporations, and a large number of other organizations of varying sizes, in IP matters, providing a wide view of experience in different IP management systems, strategies, and styles.

IP Monetization

Chris has extensive experience in the purchase and sale of IP, including IP valuation, brokering, and transactions. He has conducted more than 100 auctions of patent portfolios for companies, universities, and other organizations of varying sizes.

Operations Improvement and Restructuring Consulting -

We partner with FTI Consulting (Management Consultants).

Ranked # 1 Restructuring Advisor in Corporate Finance.

FTI’s Corporate Finance and Restructuring practice, a trusted partner to companies, boards of directors, investors, lenders, and creditors around the world, is focused on delivering restructuring and business transformation solutions. The offerings include restructuring, insolvency, interim management, capital market advisory, post-acquisition integration, valuation, and tax advisory as well as financial management and performance improvement solutions. The services are delivered through a global network of 82 offices in 27 countries situated in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Turnaround Services
The restructuring and turnaround experts at FTI Consulting help management stabilize finances and operations to reassure all parties-in-interest that proactive steps are being taken to enhance value. The deep expertise across many industries allows them to quickly ascertain the key issues and to react immediately on behalf of clients. For clients in crisis, the team develops liquidity forecasts, improves cash flow management, obtains additional financing, negotiates loan covenant waivers, and guides complex debt restructuring. They also provide analytical and advisory services to lenders and unsecured creditors of distressed borrowers.

Manufacturing Consulting -

Total Productive Manufacturing (Plant Operational Excellence).

See our service offering (link is below).

Franco Ventures - World Class Manufacturing

Global Transactions Consulting -

We partner with Houlihan Lokey (Global Investment Bank).

Ranked # 1 Global Investment Bank (based on active deals and global reach).

Houlihan Lokey has extensive expertise in mergers, acquisitions, and
divestitures for a broad range of clients (advised on 12 of the largest 15 corporate debt restructurings, including Enron Corp. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.).

Houlihan Lokey’s Capital Markets Group offers its clients access to financing in the private and public capital markets through the issuance of debt, equity, or hybrid securities. Their bankers have decades of combined experience and a track record of successfully executing financings through changing market conditions.

Teamwork - We assemble teams from all three areas. Top professional teams, working in a collaborative manner with the leadership of your corporation. You get access to top-tier advisors working in sync, to address your urgent needs and most important business initiatives.