29th November 2018

AST powers Cipher n/d to increase rational licensing and reduce patent litigation

Share this page:

Aistemos and AST have announced the launch of Cipher n/d, a new approach to analysing patent information designed to increase rational licensing and reduce patent litigation. This collaboration brings together Cipher, the leader in the field of harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse patents, with AST, the leading provider of proactive patent defence solutions.

Cipher n/d takes its inspiration from a number of recent high-profile patent disputes where the challenge is to calculate the global royalty payable for a license to a large portfolio. While the courts recognise the efficiency in resolving disputes in this way, it is something of a radical departure from the one patent at a time approach.

Cipher n/d uses AST’s product taxonomy and data to help calculate the number of patents owned by one company (the numerator) and the total population of patents (denominator). By applying AI and machine learning to comprehensive IP data, Cipher n/d is optimised to provide objective and rational evidence to support companies across a range of strategic patent decisions.

 “Cipher n/d enables operating companies to make more informed, rational decisions when evaluating their patent portfolios,” said Nigel Swycher, CEO of Aistemos.
“Our collaboration will provide an unbiased view of companies’ patent portfolios by using an industry-accepted taxonomy created by AST that can be used as a reference point to add rationality to licensing negotiations.”

What is attractive about this approach is its objectivity and rationality. The inspiration comes in part from the Black-Scholes model developed in the 1960s for pricing European put and call options. The model was widely adopted, notwithstanding the fact that it makes some assumptions about the assets and the market that were always open to a range of views.

AST is the leading provider of proactive patent mitigation solutions, and its members include many of the top patent-owning companies from a wide range of industries including Cisco, Ford, Google, Honda, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Philips, SAP, Sony, Spotify, Uber and Verizon.

“We are always looking for innovative ways to make the patent markets more transparent and efficient and are excited by the potential that Cipher n/d presents to advance these goals. We believe that Cipher n/d is an important step towards a more comprehensive and standardised visualisation of the patent landscape for the entire industry” said Russell W. Binns, Jr., CEO of AST

As patents increasingly take shape as a functional asset class, algorithmic classification and formula-based calculations will lead to an increase in licensing and a reduction in litigation. Having objective evidence will enable more rational outcomes and will eliminate obfuscation, guesswork and gamesmanship which flourish in situations where asymmetry of information is rife.

With Cipher you can…

Portfolio Optimisation connecting cogs

Optimise your portfolio

Ensure you have the right portfolio to meet your strategic patenting objectives.

Read more
Competitive Intelligence

Gather competitor intelligence

Understand who’s doing what by automating patent to technology mapping.

Read more
Cross Licensing

Model cross licensing

Combine patent and revenue data to determine rational licensing outcomes.

Read more

Manage your budget

Justify patent budgets and communicate the impact of your investment.

Read more

Conduct due diligence

Automate manual reviews for efficient execution of M&A and licensing transactions.

Read more

Tackle inbound patent assertion

Be prepared with evidence to create a fast and effective threat assessment.

Read more

Benchmark your portfolio

Assess your portfolio in comparison to other owners through your technology lens.

Read more

Monetise your portfolio

Identify opportunities to create value through licensing or sale of patent assets.

Read more
Technology Trends icon

Predict technology trends

Track new technologies and discover the unknown owners of future innovation.

Read more
Icon of a meter

Create Risk Mitigation Strategies

Understand the materiality of your threats to define your risk mitigation strategy.

Read more

Improve your patent strategy now

Speak to our team today.

Arrange a callback