TechDrawl is about showcasing deals from the South. Now that we’ve ventured really far south in “Tech Trek to India” we’re making another exception by moving to the southern tip of New York, actually New York City, to cover Article One Partners, LLC. Article One is in the business of monetizing information about the validity of patents, and its Atlanta connection is through one of its legal advisors Alexander P. Woollcott, a partner at Thompson Hine. Coincidentally, its first community member to be awarded a substantial cash prize is also in our region. (Read on.)
Pictured above left to right are patent attorneys Fran Weber, EVP, Biology; Scott Locke, Consultant, Pharma and Bio; and Cheryl Milone, Founder and President. They along with Felix D’Arienzo, Consultant, Electrical and Business Methods, are the core team behind Article One.
The company is in the business of assembling a large Internet community of persons identified as “Advisors” and making available to them Patent Studies for which evidence of prior art is being sought. Any such prior art submitted by an Advisor is analyzed by the company’s experts, and, if on that basis Article One forms an opinion that the studied patent is invalid, the Advisor is awarded $50,000. In addition, 5% of the company’s net profits are shared with Advisors who actively help build the community.
The company’s website was launched in mid-November 2008 and has already generated considerable media attention and traffic. As of today, 22 studies have been posted, with one winner already announced from more than 650 submissions of prior art. The company formed two strategic alliances to help broaden its community — NineSigma (3 million technologists) and UnitedLex (global patent analysts).
Article One makes money in three ways:
- Enabling the sales of promising instances of prior art either to patent holders wishing to protect themselves or to those seeking infringement ammunition against holders
- Execution of market trades for gain of public companies affected by Study results known to Article One but not to the general public
- Hosting of third-party sponsored patent studies
The target market is significant. There are over 2 million U.S. Patents in existence, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) handles more than 300,000 events annually. Some estimate that as many as 45% of granted patents are either invalid or overly broad because the USPTO just cannot cope with the research load of finding prior art.
Enter Article One to address this pressing public issue that affects everyone who makes or protects a living on the strength of patent validity. Ms. Milone intends for her business to become the “Google of Patent Law.”
