IPMAP

Intellectual Property Market Advisory Partners (IPMAP) empowers businesses to accurately assess and value their intangible assets, offering expert guidance at every stage of the process. Celebrating a decade of excellence, the company has grown from its initial focus on damage estimate for intellectual property (IP) litigation to an established leader in the field. After working on damage analysis for almost 15 years, Jack Lu founded IPMAP in 2014. Backed by his PhD, a charter of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), and extensive credentials, he has broadened the firm’s offerings by providing a full spectrum of IP management and valuation services.

Today, IPMAP’s comprehensive suite of services includes IP management strategies and valuation services for financial reporting, corporate transactions (including VC/PE investment, M&A, distressed asset investment, reorganization, and bankruptcy), IP transaction and licensing, pre-litigation assessment, litigation financing, mediation and settlement, and damage analysis for litigation through court trials. These tailored solutions meet the diverse challenges of clients across sectors, from startups to large corporations.

“Our commitment to deliver data-driven, market-informed valuations is underlain by our decades-long economic research and financial analysis in intellectual property,” says Lu.

For example, damage expert services for litigation lie at the core of its expertise, offering court-proof expert reports that assess damages in IP disputes. The firm’s designated damage expert will be cross-examined by opposing counsel in deposition and will testify during court trials.

IPMAP also excels in patent valuation for transactions, helping buyers and sellers determine the fair value of IP assets. This service provides a reliable valuation benchmark, enabling clients to make informed decisions in negotiations.

Expanding beyond the IP transaction and litigation, the company offers comprehensive valuation services for corporate transactions and investments as well as associated compliance and financial reporting purposes. For example, before selling a subsidiary it acquired several years ago in a multi-billion deal, a large corporation requested a patent valuation report from IPMAP so that it could start a negotiation with a direct competitor in the field. As another example, IPMAP helped an ABC (Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors) entity successfully sell its patents at a price much higher than other offers it received for all assets of the entity, which resulted in full payment to the secured creditors.

With the increasing demand from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other regulatory bodies for companies to disclose the value of their intangible assets, IPMAP provides reliable valuations to support clients to meet compliance obligations when responding to inquiries or filing tax returns.

A prime example of IPMAP’s expertise in valuation is a case involving a publicly-traded company under SEC review over the valuation of its acquired assets. IPMAP shifted the focus to the true value of its IP, emphasizing the innovative technologies and designs behind the acquisition. Reframing the assessment, IPMAP allowed the firm to present a more appropriate valuation and address the SEC inquiry effectively.

The ability to proficiently deliver these services is rooted in IPMAP’s unique differentiators, which make it a leader in the field. An active researcher with more than 30 publications, Lu is a frequent expert speaker at IP events. He has built a private database that compiles publicly available patent transaction data. In an industry marked by secrecy, this extensive resource significantly enhances its ability to address complicated issues in valuation. Since 2011, Lu has been leading the High Tech Royalty Survey of Licensing Executives Society (LES) USA & Canada, analyzing the survey data and penning chapters on economic and financial analysis. He has served as Senior Vice President for Economic Analysis and Survey of LES since 2018 and was awarded the highest honor of LES, the President’s Award, in 2023.

As a trusted partner, IPMAP equips businesses with the insights and strategies needed to unlock the full potential of their assets and confidently navigate the complexities of litigation and transactions.