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News on MARA this am .39
Marathon Patent Group Provides Details on CyberFone Systems Acquisition
Portfolio Generated 32 Settlement and License Agreements Totaling $15.5 Million
ALEXANDRIA, VA--(Marketwired - Apr 24, 2013) - Marathon Patent Group®, Inc. (OTCBB: MARA) ("Marathon"), an intellectual property services and monetization company, today provides an update on its recent acquisition of CyberFone Systems, LLC and its patent portfolio. The patents cover claims that provide the right to practice specific transactional data processing, telecommunications, network and database inventions, including financial transactions.
The portfolio has a history of revenue generation, demonstrating the value of the assets, as well as their widespread use over multiple industries. Since the licensing and enforcement campaign began nearly 18 months ago, the patent portfolio has generated 32 settlement and license agreements for a total of $15.5 million in revenue. Ongoing infringement continues, and the portfolio is currently being enforced against 16 named defendants, including Federal Express, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Nintendo, ZTE, Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent and UPS among others.
Marathon believes these patents cover inventions that are in widespread use, particularly in the mobile internet environment. Marathon and IP Navigation ("IPNav"), its strategic partner, will continue to identify, and license to, those who market or sell technologies covered by the underlying rights of the acquired assets. This includes infringement both in already identified industries, but also in newly identified verticals or use cases. Earlier this year, Marathon Patent Group announced it had entered into a strategic relationship with industry-leading patent monetization company IP Navigation Group, which has generated more than $600 million to date in licenses, settlements and damages awards. IPNav will continue source and execute monetization opportunities on behalf of MPG.
"It is clear from the continued performance of the CyberFone portfolio that it represents diversification in both its ability to generate revenue and in the breadth of its base of licensees," said Doug Croxall, Chief Executive Officer of Marathon Patent Group. "We see portfolios like it as the foundation of Marathon's growth strategy. We are also working with IPNav to identify other industries and potential licensees for the CyberFone portfolio."
About Marathon Patent Group
Marathon Patent Group® ("Marathon") is an intellectual property services and monetization company that serves a wide range of patent holders and technologies from Fortune 500 to independent inventors. Marathon provides clients advice and services that enable them to realize financial and strategic return on their IP rights. Marathon serves clients through two complementary business units: the IP Research & Services Center, which helps to identify and manage patents, and the IP Licensing and Enforcement Group, which acquires IP assets, partners with patent holders, and monetizes patent portfolios through actively managed patent licensing campaigns. Marathon is based in Alexandria, Virginia. www.marathonpg.com
About IPNav
IPNav is the world's leading full-service patent monetization firm, helping forward-thinking corporations, universities, organizations, and individuals profit from innovation. IPNav's integrated, end-to-end solution turns idle IP assets into revenue streams. Using its proprietary Patent Monetization Platform, IPNav unlocks the value trapped in our clients' IP portfolios -- with timetables and objectives set by the client. Based in Dallas, IPNav has offices in Dublin, Paris, Shanghai, and Tel Aviv. www.ipnav.com
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), not limited to Risk Factors relating to its patent business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Contact Information
Marathon Patent Group
Investor Relations
678-570-6791
IP Communications
Brody Berman Associates
212-683-8125
Marathon Patent Group Provides Details on CyberFone Systems Acquisition
Portfolio Generated 32 Settlement and License Agreements Totaling $15.5 Million
ALEXANDRIA, VA--(Marketwired - Apr 24, 2013) - Marathon Patent Group®, Inc. (OTCBB: MARA) ("Marathon"), an intellectual property services and monetization company, today provides an update on its recent acquisition of CyberFone Systems, LLC and its patent portfolio. The patents cover claims that provide the right to practice specific transactional data processing, telecommunications, network and database inventions, including financial transactions.
The portfolio has a history of revenue generation, demonstrating the value of the assets, as well as their widespread use over multiple industries. Since the licensing and enforcement campaign began nearly 18 months ago, the patent portfolio has generated 32 settlement and license agreements for a total of $15.5 million in revenue. Ongoing infringement continues, and the portfolio is currently being enforced against 16 named defendants, including Federal Express, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Nintendo, ZTE, Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent and UPS among others.
Marathon believes these patents cover inventions that are in widespread use, particularly in the mobile internet environment. Marathon and IP Navigation ("IPNav"), its strategic partner, will continue to identify, and license to, those who market or sell technologies covered by the underlying rights of the acquired assets. This includes infringement both in already identified industries, but also in newly identified verticals or use cases. Earlier this year, Marathon Patent Group announced it had entered into a strategic relationship with industry-leading patent monetization company IP Navigation Group, which has generated more than $600 million to date in licenses, settlements and damages awards. IPNav will continue source and execute monetization opportunities on behalf of MPG.
"It is clear from the continued performance of the CyberFone portfolio that it represents diversification in both its ability to generate revenue and in the breadth of its base of licensees," said Doug Croxall, Chief Executive Officer of Marathon Patent Group. "We see portfolios like it as the foundation of Marathon's growth strategy. We are also working with IPNav to identify other industries and potential licensees for the CyberFone portfolio."
About Marathon Patent Group
Marathon Patent Group® ("Marathon") is an intellectual property services and monetization company that serves a wide range of patent holders and technologies from Fortune 500 to independent inventors. Marathon provides clients advice and services that enable them to realize financial and strategic return on their IP rights. Marathon serves clients through two complementary business units: the IP Research & Services Center, which helps to identify and manage patents, and the IP Licensing and Enforcement Group, which acquires IP assets, partners with patent holders, and monetizes patent portfolios through actively managed patent licensing campaigns. Marathon is based in Alexandria, Virginia. www.marathonpg.com
About IPNav
IPNav is the world's leading full-service patent monetization firm, helping forward-thinking corporations, universities, organizations, and individuals profit from innovation. IPNav's integrated, end-to-end solution turns idle IP assets into revenue streams. Using its proprietary Patent Monetization Platform, IPNav unlocks the value trapped in our clients' IP portfolios -- with timetables and objectives set by the client. Based in Dallas, IPNav has offices in Dublin, Paris, Shanghai, and Tel Aviv. www.ipnav.com
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), not limited to Risk Factors relating to its patent business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Contact Information
Marathon Patent Group
Investor Relations
678-570-6791
IP Communications
Brody Berman Associates
212-683-8125
Nathaniel Bradley is literally a technology genius. Better, so aren't Jim Crawford and Sean Bradley. Anyone who has ever met them or worked with them will tell you they are all visionaries and quality people. AEYE has a darn good team of executives at the helm.
Considering this, you all would be well served to take a good look at Marathon Patent Group "MARA" which they are also involved with. At just $.38 cents currently and a long list of growing accomplishments as evidenced by recent news, it is also one to watch. You could be seeing the birth of the next Acacia Research "ACTG" which was once just a dollar or two before hitting highs in the $50 range, currently in the $23 range. there was a Seeking Alpha article yesterday that mentioned them together. Here is the link:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1360501-acacia-research-a-conservative-investor-s-choice-for-investing-in-intellectual-property?source=yahoo
When you invest in small companies, quality management and those intimately involved are everything. Both MARA and AEYE have top notch teams that I would invest in.
Here's today's news on MARA if you haven't seen it. Hot off the press. I would not be surprised to soon see this stock trading discernibly higher.
April 24, 2013 08:37 ET
Marathon Patent Group Provides Details on CyberFone Systems Acquisition
Portfolio Generated 32 Settlement and License Agreements Totaling $15.5 Million
ALEXANDRIA, VA--(Marketwired - Apr 24, 2013) - Marathon Patent Group®, Inc. (OTCBB: MARA) ("Marathon"), an intellectual property services and monetization company, today provides an update on its recent acquisition of CyberFone Systems, LLC and its patent portfolio. The patents cover claims that provide the right to practice specific transactional data processing, telecommunications, network and database inventions, including financial transactions.
The portfolio has a history of revenue generation, demonstrating the value of the assets, as well as their widespread use over multiple industries. Since the licensing and enforcement campaign began nearly 18 months ago, the patent portfolio has generated 32 settlement and license agreements for a total of $15.5 million in revenue. Ongoing infringement continues, and the portfolio is currently being enforced against 16 named defendants, including Federal Express, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Nintendo, ZTE, Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent and UPS among others.
Marathon believes these patents cover inventions that are in widespread use, particularly in the mobile internet environment. Marathon and IP Navigation ("IPNav"), its strategic partner, will continue to identify, and license to, those who market or sell technologies covered by the underlying rights of the acquired assets. This includes infringement both in already identified industries, but also in newly identified verticals or use cases. Earlier this year, Marathon Patent Group announced it had entered into a strategic relationship with industry-leading patent monetization company IP Navigation Group, which has generated more than $600 million to date in licenses, settlements and damages awards. IPNav will continue source and execute monetization opportunities on behalf of MPG.
"It is clear from the continued performance of the CyberFone portfolio that it represents diversification in both its ability to generate revenue and in the breadth of its base of licensees," said Doug Croxall, Chief Executive Officer of Marathon Patent Group. "We see portfolios like it as the foundation of Marathon's growth strategy. We are also working with IPNav to identify other industries and potential licensees for the CyberFone portfolio."
About Marathon Patent Group
Marathon Patent Group® ("Marathon") is an intellectual property services and monetization company that serves a wide range of patent holders and technologies from Fortune 500 to independent inventors. Marathon provides clients advice and services that enable them to realize financial and strategic return on their IP rights. Marathon serves clients through two complementary business units: the IP Research & Services Center, which helps to identify and manage patents, and the IP Licensing and Enforcement Group, which acquires IP assets, partners with patent holders, and monetizes patent portfolios through actively managed patent licensing campaigns. Marathon is based in Alexandria, Virginia. www.marathonpg.com
About IPNav
IPNav is the world's leading full-service patent monetization firm, helping forward-thinking corporations, universities, organizations, and individuals profit from innovation. IPNav's integrated, end-to-end solution turns idle IP assets into revenue streams. Using its proprietary Patent Monetization Platform, IPNav unlocks the value trapped in our clients' IP portfolios -- with timetables and objectives set by the client. Based in Dallas, IPNav has offices in Dublin, Paris, Shanghai, and Tel Aviv. www.ipnav.com
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), not limited to Risk Factors relating to its patent business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Contact Information
Marathon Patent Group
Investor Relations
678-570-6791
IP Communications
Brody Berman Associates
212-683-8125
Great Seeking Alpha article with MARA mention
Acacia Research: A Conservative Investor's Choice For Investing In Intellectual Property
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1360501-acacia-research-a-conservative-investor-s-choice-for-investing-in-intellectual-property?source=yahoo
Apr 23 2013, 05:10 by: Mobile Guru | about: ACTG
On Thursday Acacia Research (ACTG) released their first quarter earnings and promptly saw their market cap drop 25%. While the quarterly numbers may certainly look weak on paper, investors should note that this was the second highest quarter in the company's history and it serves to illustrate the difficulty of trying to value Intellectual Property monetization companies on quarter over quarter comparisons.
Investors may be better served to use the same metric that the company uses, a rolling 12 month growth figure. This eventually will look at the full year end which I am expecting to show significant growth over last year's record $250M in revenue. Let's look at what the growth looks like using the TTM method and just the year end number. In 2009 revenues were $67M, while in 2010 they climbed 95% to $131M. In 2011 they grew 40% to $184M, followed by 36% to $250M in 2012. While along the way there were certainly quarters that did not show quarter over quarter growth, the yearly trend is pretty evident and another record year is certainly possible.
While it is not easy to predict revenue fluctuations with this type of company, there were some key hints in the first quarter conference call that many may have missed. From the first quarter transcript of the conference call:
Paul Ryan - Chief Executive Officer
I would now like to respond to questions we are asked most frequently by analyst and shareholders. The first question we are usually asked is what is your visibility for future revenue growth.
Our answer is that historically there has been a very high correlation between our growth in new assets under management and our subsequent revenue growth with 12 to 18 months lag to begin generating revenues. While our totally numbers are uneven, we have always seen very significant and consistent growth in annual revenues based on the previous 18 months of growth in new assets under management.
Because we have added a record number of new assets during the past 18 months, we expect to generate continued revenue growth. In addition, a number of the new portfolio as we now have under management in the technology, medical technology and automotive sectors have very significant revenue opportunities based on the depth and breadth of the patent coverage and the size of the market these technologies address.
Why is this of even more significance than usual? Fifteen months ago Acacia made its largest purchase of IP in its history when it bought ADAPTIX for over $150M.
ADAPTIX, a pioneer in the development of 4G technologies for wireless systems, is an award-winning technology company long recognized in the industry as one of the first developers of cutting edge 4G wireless systems. With patents filed as early as 2000, ADAPTIX's research and development efforts have resulted in one of the most significant intellectual property portfolios focused on 4G technologies. With its rapidly growing portfolio of 230 issued and pending patents in 13 countries, ADAPTIX's innovations extend across a broad range of 4G technologies including OFDMA and MIMO.
While this was a huge purchase for the company as noted in the above quote, the typical payback window really starts 12-18 months after acquiring portfolios. From the conference call:
Clayton Haynes - Chief Financial Officer
Sure. I mean, we've got data obviously, at ADAPTIX we invested $350 million and we earn back roughly two-thirds of that in the first three licensees over a period of about 14 months, which is pretty much on target and hopefully we will be in the money on that portfolio this year and its one that has revenue opportunities going out for the next decade, so that's how you earn exceptional ROIs that we have done historically with invested capital.
So while the first quarter comparisons may not look good, Acacia continues to grow its core areas and it has only just scratched the surface in the monetization of its ADAPTIX 4G intellectual property.
Another company in the space just beginning to make a name for itself and possibly giving investors an early stage opportunity reminiscent of Acacia in its infancy is Marathon Patent Group (MARA.OB). Led by patent veteran Doug Croxall, partnered with IP Navigation, and having amassed a team of top industry talent, Marathon is setting itself apart from the crowd consisting of companies like VirnetX (VHC), Vringo (VRNG) and Worlds Inc. (WDDD.OB). While these and most NPE's are subject to tremendous risk and volatility with investors banking on litigation and the potential prospects of large settlements, Marathon has bifurcated its business model creating multiple revenue streams.
Unlike these others, Marathon has mitigated investor risk associated with the lawsuits so vital to driving revenue for its peers. While it too may engage in litigation and is currently as evidenced by its recent suit against Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC, Siemens Energy, Inc., CB Apex Realtors, d/b/a Coldwell Banker Apex Realtors, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Juniper Networks (JNPR), Inc., Winn Dixie Stores (WINN), Inc., and Dell, Inc. (DELL), it's not all or nothing prospects for investors. Investors recently saw this risk play out first hand when VHC shares tumbled precipitously upon news it lost its patent infringement case against Cisco (CSCO) because the jury says it didn't violate them.
Marathon stand alone in providing their clients advice and services that enable them to realize financial and strategic return on their own IP rights. They serve a wide range of patent holders and technologies from Fortune 500 to independent inventors. Clients are served through its two complementary business units: their IP Research & Services Center, which helps to identify and manage patents, and their IP Licensing and Enforcement Group, which acquires IP assets, partners with patent holders, and monetizes patent portfolios through actively managed patent licensing campaigns.
Late Monday, the company added to its recent growing list of accomplishments when they announced they had secured revenue generating patents via an acquisition of CyberFone Systems and that their partner and patent licensing leader IPNav will continue to manage the licensing campaign. The patents cover claims that provide the right to practice specific transactional data processing, telecommunications, network and database inventions, including financial transactions. The portfolio, which has a large and established licensing base, consists of ten United States patents and 27 foreign patents and one patent pending. The patent rights that cover digital communications and data transaction processing are foundational to certain applications in the wireless, telecommunications, financial and other industries. The portfolio cites and has been cited in patents owned by IBM, Cisco, Hitachi, Siemens (SI), NEC and in 437 other patents issued or pending in the United States.
"Marathon Patent Group believes that the CyberFone portfolio of performing assets enables us to reduce investment risk and establish performance," said Doug Croxall, Chief Executive Officer of Marathon Patent Group. "The transaction, in conjunction with our recent acquisition of the Bell Labs patent from MOSAID Technologies, lends credence to Marathon's IP growth strategy, and provides a strong foundation for us to build upon."
"IPNav is pleased to be able to serve Marathon Patent Group in supporting the CyberFone Systems licensing program," said Erich Spangenberg, Chief Executive Officer of IPNav. "This patent portfolio is broadly infringed and a proven revenue-generator that will continue to provide significant income for quite some time." "We see the difference in what Marathon Patent Group is building and we are elated to be receiving equity in Marathon as part of our compensation," said Spangenberg.
Investors can only be encouraged that through this transaction, IpNav and Spangenberg are adding to their existing sizeable position in Marathon.
So whether you invest in Acacia, Marathon Patent Group, or one of the other mentioned patent monetization companies, just be mindful of the fact it may be difficult to value the companies on a traditional quarter to quarter valuation matrix. Instead, consider looking at a longer term view like in the case of Acacia, which may provide investors with a very good buying opportunity over the next several months prior to the next earnings cycle.
I do not but considering how well the company has been communicating with its shareholders, one must assume they intend to soon communicate such information. Never have I seen a small company and its management accomplish so much in such short order.
The simple fact that Erich Spangenberg is adding to his already large position could be considered telling with respect to his thoughts on the shares possible ultimate value.
MARA .38 news post close
Marathon Patent Group Secures Revenue-Generating Telecom Patents With CyberFone Systems Acquisition
Patent Licensing Leader IPNav Will Continue to Manage the Highly Successful Campaign
ALEXANDRIA, VA--(Marketwired - Apr 22, 2013) - Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (OTCBB: MARA) ("MPG"), an Intellectual Property services and monetization company, today announced that it has secured a foundational patent portfolio through the acquisition of CyberFone Systems, LLC. The patents cover claims that provide the right to practice specific transactional data processing, telecommunications, network and database inventions, including financial transactions. The portfolio, which has a large and established licensing base, consists of ten United States patents and 27 foreign patents and one patent pending. The patent rights that cover digital communications and data transaction processing are foundational to certain applications in the wireless, telecommunications, financial and other industries. The portfolio cites and has been cited in patents owned by IBM, Cisco, Hitachi, Siemens, NEC and in 437 other patents issued or pending in the United States.
Patents in the portfolio include those with claims covering processes for a telecommunications system that can be used in a menu-like format allowing for navigation and data input creating "data transactions," which are then transmitted to a database. In addition, covered are methods that detail the ability to input data in a form driven, operating system agnostic configuration, in which data can be processed and returned in real time. Marathon believes the underlying rights to the patent claims of the acquired assets are especially valuable in today's mobile internet environment and will provide licensees significant value. The priority dates of the patents are as early as 1993 with all rights reserved of that priority relating to specific inventions disclosed.
"Marathon Patent Group believes that the CyberFone portfolio of performing assets enables us to reduce investment risk and establish performance," said Doug Croxall, Chief Executive Officer of Marathon Patent Group. "The transaction, in conjunction with our recent acquisition of the Bell Labs patent from MOSAID Technologies, lends credence to Marathon's IP growth strategy, and provides a strong foundation for us to build upon."
"IPNav is pleased to be able to serve Marathon Patent Group in supporting the CyberFone Systems licensing program," said Erich Spangenberg, Chief Executive Officer of IPNav. "This patent portfolio is broadly infringed and a proven revenue-generator that will continue to provide significant income for quite some time."
Earlier this year, Marathon Patent Group announced it had entered into a strategic relationship with industry-leading patent monetization company IP Navigation Group. IPNav will continue source and execute monetization opportunities on behalf of MPG. "We see the difference in what Marathon Patent Group is building and we are elated to be receiving equity in Marathon as part of our compensation," said Spangenberg.
The acquired patents include U.S. patent numbers 6,044,382 entitled "Data transaction assembly server"; 5,805,676 entitled "Telephone/transaction entry device and system for entering transaction data into databases"; 5,987,103 entitled "Telephone/transaction entry device and system for entering transaction data into databases." The portfolio also includes 27 foreign patents with coverage in nine foreign countries including North America, South America, Europe, Pacific Rim and Asia.
About Marathon Patent Group
Marathon Patent Group ("Marathon") is an intellectual property services and monetization company that serves a wide range of patent holders and technologies from Fortune 500 to independent inventors. Marathon provides clients advice and services that enable them to realize financial and strategic return on their IP rights. Marathon serves clients through two complementary business units: the IP Research & Services Center, which helps to identify and manage patents, and the IP Licensing and Enforcement Group, which acquires IP assets, partners with patent holders, and monetizes patent portfolios through actively managed patent licensing campaigns. Marathon is based in Alexandria, Virginia.
www.marathonpg.com
About IPNav
IPNav is the world's leading full-service patent monetization firm, helping forward-thinking corporations, universities, organizations, and individuals profit from innovation. IPNav's integrated, end-to-end solution turns idle IP assets into revenue streams. Using its proprietary Patent Monetization Platform, IPNav unlocks the value trapped in our clients' IP portfolios -- with timetables and objectives set by the client. Based in Dallas, IPNav has offices in Dublin, Paris, Shanghai, and Tel Aviv. www.ipnav.com
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), not limited to Risk Factors relating to its patent business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Contact Information
Marathon Patent Group
Investor Relations
678-570-6791
IP Communications
Brody Berman Associates
212-683-8125
Marathon Patent Group Secures Revenue-Generating Telecom Patents With CyberFone Systems Acquisition
Patent Licensing Leader IPNav Will Continue to Manage the Highly Successful Campaign
ALEXANDRIA, VA--(Marketwired - Apr 22, 2013) - Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (OTCBB: MARA) ("MPG"), an Intellectual Property services and monetization company, today announced that it has secured a foundational patent portfolio through the acquisition of CyberFone Systems, LLC. The patents cover claims that provide the right to practice specific transactional data processing, telecommunications, network and database inventions, including financial transactions. The portfolio, which has a large and established licensing base, consists of ten United States patents and 27 foreign patents and one patent pending. The patent rights that cover digital communications and data transaction processing are foundational to certain applications in the wireless, telecommunications, financial and other industries. The portfolio cites and has been cited in patents owned by IBM, Cisco, Hitachi, Siemens, NEC and in 437 other patents issued or pending in the United States.
Patents in the portfolio include those with claims covering processes for a telecommunications system that can be used in a menu-like format allowing for navigation and data input creating "data transactions," which are then transmitted to a database. In addition, covered are methods that detail the ability to input data in a form driven, operating system agnostic configuration, in which data can be processed and returned in real time. Marathon believes the underlying rights to the patent claims of the acquired assets are especially valuable in today's mobile internet environment and will provide licensees significant value. The priority dates of the patents are as early as 1993 with all rights reserved of that priority relating to specific inventions disclosed.
"Marathon Patent Group believes that the CyberFone portfolio of performing assets enables us to reduce investment risk and establish performance," said Doug Croxall, Chief Executive Officer of Marathon Patent Group. "The transaction, in conjunction with our recent acquisition of the Bell Labs patent from MOSAID Technologies, lends credence to Marathon's IP growth strategy, and provides a strong foundation for us to build upon."
"IPNav is pleased to be able to serve Marathon Patent Group in supporting the CyberFone Systems licensing program," said Erich Spangenberg, Chief Executive Officer of IPNav. "This patent portfolio is broadly infringed and a proven revenue-generator that will continue to provide significant income for quite some time."
Earlier this year, Marathon Patent Group announced it had entered into a strategic relationship with industry-leading patent monetization company IP Navigation Group. IPNav will continue source and execute monetization opportunities on behalf of MPG. "We see the difference in what Marathon Patent Group is building and we are elated to be receiving equity in Marathon as part of our compensation," said Spangenberg.
The acquired patents include U.S. patent numbers 6,044,382 entitled "Data transaction assembly server"; 5,805,676 entitled "Telephone/transaction entry device and system for entering transaction data into databases"; 5,987,103 entitled "Telephone/transaction entry device and system for entering transaction data into databases." The portfolio also includes 27 foreign patents with coverage in nine foreign countries including North America, South America, Europe, Pacific Rim and Asia.
About Marathon Patent Group
Marathon Patent Group ("Marathon") is an intellectual property services and monetization company that serves a wide range of patent holders and technologies from Fortune 500 to independent inventors. Marathon provides clients advice and services that enable them to realize financial and strategic return on their IP rights. Marathon serves clients through two complementary business units: the IP Research & Services Center, which helps to identify and manage patents, and the IP Licensing and Enforcement Group, which acquires IP assets, partners with patent holders, and monetizes patent portfolios through actively managed patent licensing campaigns. Marathon is based in Alexandria, Virginia.
www.marathonpg.com
About IPNav
IPNav is the world's leading full-service patent monetization firm, helping forward-thinking corporations, universities, organizations, and individuals profit from innovation. IPNav's integrated, end-to-end solution turns idle IP assets into revenue streams. Using its proprietary Patent Monetization Platform, IPNav unlocks the value trapped in our clients' IP portfolios -- with timetables and objectives set by the client. Based in Dallas, IPNav has offices in Dublin, Paris, Shanghai, and Tel Aviv. www.ipnav.com
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), not limited to Risk Factors relating to its patent business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Contact Information
Marathon Patent Group
Investor Relations
678-570-6791
IP Communications
Brody Berman Associates
212-683-8125
MARA up 18% to .38
Marathon Patent Group Acquires Important Multi-Casting Patent From MOSAID Technologies
Bell Labs-Generated Patent Is Part of Marathon's Long-Term IP Acquisition Strategy
ALEXANDRIA, VA--(Marketwired - Apr 16, 2013) - Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (OTCBB: MARA) ("MPG"), an Intellectual Property services and monetization company, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Relay IP, Inc., has acquired US Patent 5,331,637 from MOSAID Technologies, one of the world's leading intellectual property management companies. The asset is a seminal patent cited by over 254 other patents that enables multicasting on Internet protocol networks.
IP multicast is widely deployed in enterprises, commercial stock exchanges, and multimedia content delivery networks. A common enterprise use of IP multicast is for IPTV applications such as distance learning and televised company meetings. This protocol is most widely used for Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM). The '637 patent has been cited by over 254 other patents from patent owners such as: Cisco, Google, Sun Microsystems, Enterasys, IBM, Avaya, Microsoft, Intel, Apple, British Telecom, Ericsson, Foundry, Hon Hai, Motorola, Worldcom, Yahoo, HP, Dell, Alcatel Lucent, Motorola, AT&T, Akamai, 3Com, and others.
MOSAID Technologies Incorporated is a privately-held IP licensing company that owns over 5,000 patents focused on semiconductor and communications technologies. Bell Labs is widely recognized as one of the world's most prestigious research and development organizations, and its researchers have been awarded a total of seven Nobel Prizes. IPNav played a significant role in identifying the asset and facilitating its acquisition.
"The acquisition of the '637 patent underscores Marathon's growth and development strategy," stated Doug Croxall, Marathon Patent Group's Chief Executive Officer. "Securing selective patents and families to establish a diversified base of assets is among MPG's primary goals. Building multiple channels for sourcing transactions will be a key to realizing it. Our close working relationship with IP Navigation Group played a major role in facilitating the acquisition. Marathon is focused on developing a portfolio of highly monetizable patents with the help of sourcing partners with demonstrated ability to identify value."
About Marathon Patent Group
Marathon Patent Group, Inc. ("MPG") is an intellectual property services and monetization company that serves a wide range of patent holders and technologies from Fortune 500 to independent inventors. MPG provides clients advice and services that enable them to realize financial and strategic return on their IP rights. MPG serves clients through two complementary business units: the IP Research & Services Center, which helps to identify and manage patents, and the IP Licensing and Enforcement Group, which acquires IP assets, partners with patent holders, and monetizes patent portfolios through actively managed patent licensing campaigns. MPG is based in Alexandria, Virginia. www.marathonpg.com
MARA up 18% to .38
Marathon Patent Group Acquires Important Multi-Casting Patent From MOSAID Technologies
Bell Labs-Generated Patent Is Part of Marathon's Long-Term IP Acquisition Strategy
ALEXANDRIA, VA--(Marketwired - Apr 16, 2013) - Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (OTCBB: MARA) ("MPG"), an Intellectual Property services and monetization company, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Relay IP, Inc., has acquired US Patent 5,331,637 from MOSAID Technologies, one of the world's leading intellectual property management companies. The asset is a seminal patent cited by over 254 other patents that enables multicasting on Internet protocol networks.
IP multicast is widely deployed in enterprises, commercial stock exchanges, and multimedia content delivery networks. A common enterprise use of IP multicast is for IPTV applications such as distance learning and televised company meetings. This protocol is most widely used for Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM). The '637 patent has been cited by over 254 other patents from patent owners such as: Cisco, Google, Sun Microsystems, Enterasys, IBM, Avaya, Microsoft, Intel, Apple, British Telecom, Ericsson, Foundry, Hon Hai, Motorola, Worldcom, Yahoo, HP, Dell, Alcatel Lucent, Motorola, AT&T, Akamai, 3Com, and others.
MOSAID Technologies Incorporated is a privately-held IP licensing company that owns over 5,000 patents focused on semiconductor and communications technologies. Bell Labs is widely recognized as one of the world's most prestigious research and development organizations, and its researchers have been awarded a total of seven Nobel Prizes. IPNav played a significant role in identifying the asset and facilitating its acquisition.
"The acquisition of the '637 patent underscores Marathon's growth and development strategy," stated Doug Croxall, Marathon Patent Group's Chief Executive Officer. "Securing selective patents and families to establish a diversified base of assets is among MPG's primary goals. Building multiple channels for sourcing transactions will be a key to realizing it. Our close working relationship with IP Navigation Group played a major role in facilitating the acquisition. Marathon is focused on developing a portfolio of highly monetizable patents with the help of sourcing partners with demonstrated ability to identify value."
About Marathon Patent Group
Marathon Patent Group, Inc. ("MPG") is an intellectual property services and monetization company that serves a wide range of patent holders and technologies from Fortune 500 to independent inventors. MPG provides clients advice and services that enable them to realize financial and strategic return on their IP rights. MPG serves clients through two complementary business units: the IP Research & Services Center, which helps to identify and manage patents, and the IP Licensing and Enforcement Group, which acquires IP assets, partners with patent holders, and monetizes patent portfolios through actively managed patent licensing campaigns. MPG is based in Alexandria, Virginia. www.marathonpg.com
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), not limited to Risk Factors relating to its patent business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Contact Information
• Marathon Patent Group
Investor Relations
678-570-6791
IP Communications
Brody Berman Associates
212-683-8125
MARA .32
Marathon Patent Group Acquires Important Multi-Casting Patent From MOSAID Technologies
Bell Labs-Generated Patent Is Part of Marathon's Long-Term IP Acquisition Strategy
ALEXANDRIA, VA--(Marketwired - Apr 16, 2013) - Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (OTCBB: MARA) ("MPG"), an Intellectual Property services and monetization company, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Relay IP, Inc., has acquired US Patent 5,331,637 from MOSAID Technologies, one of the world's leading intellectual property management companies. The asset is a seminal patent cited by over 254 other patents that enables multicasting on Internet protocol networks.
IP multicast is widely deployed in enterprises, commercial stock exchanges, and multimedia content delivery networks. A common enterprise use of IP multicast is for IPTV applications such as distance learning and televised company meetings. This protocol is most widely used for Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM). The '637 patent has been cited by over 254 other patents from patent owners such as: Cisco, Google, Sun Microsystems, Enterasys, IBM, Avaya, Microsoft, Intel, Apple, British Telecom, Ericsson, Foundry, Hon Hai, Motorola, Worldcom, Yahoo, HP, Dell, Alcatel Lucent, Motorola, AT&T, Akamai, 3Com, and others.
MOSAID Technologies Incorporated is a privately-held IP licensing company that owns over 5,000 patents focused on semiconductor and communications technologies. Bell Labs is widely recognized as one of the world's most prestigious research and development organizations, and its researchers have been awarded a total of seven Nobel Prizes. IPNav played a significant role in identifying the asset and facilitating its acquisition.
"The acquisition of the '637 patent underscores Marathon's growth and development strategy," stated Doug Croxall, Marathon Patent Group's Chief Executive Officer. "Securing selective patents and families to establish a diversified base of assets is among MPG's primary goals. Building multiple channels for sourcing transactions will be a key to realizing it. Our close working relationship with IP Navigation Group played a major role in facilitating the acquisition. Marathon is focused on developing a portfolio of highly monetizable patents with the help of sourcing partners with demonstrated ability to identify value."
Marathon Patent Group Acquires Important Multi-Casting Patent From MOSAID Technologies
Bell Labs-Generated Patent Is Part of Marathon's Long-Term IP Acquisition Strategy
ALEXANDRIA, VA--(Marketwired - Apr 16, 2013) - Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (OTCBB: MARA) ("MPG"), an Intellectual Property services and monetization company, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Relay IP, Inc., has acquired US Patent 5,331,637 from MOSAID Technologies, one of the world's leading intellectual property management companies. The asset is a seminal patent cited by over 254 other patents that enables multicasting on Internet protocol networks.
IP multicast is widely deployed in enterprises, commercial stock exchanges, and multimedia content delivery networks. A common enterprise use of IP multicast is for IPTV applications such as distance learning and televised company meetings. This protocol is most widely used for Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM). The '637 patent has been cited by over 254 other patents from patent owners such as: Cisco, Google, Sun Microsystems, Enterasys, IBM, Avaya, Microsoft, Intel, Apple, British Telecom, Ericsson, Foundry, Hon Hai, Motorola, Worldcom, Yahoo, HP, Dell, Alcatel Lucent, Motorola, AT&T, Akamai, 3Com, and others.
MOSAID Technologies Incorporated is a privately-held IP licensing company that owns over 5,000 patents focused on semiconductor and communications technologies. Bell Labs is widely recognized as one of the world's most prestigious research and development organizations, and its researchers have been awarded a total of seven Nobel Prizes. IPNav played a significant role in identifying the asset and facilitating its acquisition.
"The acquisition of the '637 patent underscores Marathon's growth and development strategy," stated Doug Croxall, Marathon Patent Group's Chief Executive Officer. "Securing selective patents and families to establish a diversified base of assets is among MPG's primary goals. Building multiple channels for sourcing transactions will be a key to realizing it. Our close working relationship with IP Navigation Group played a major role in facilitating the acquisition. Marathon is focused on developing a portfolio of highly monetizable patents with the help of sourcing partners with demonstrated ability to identify value."
Patent Investor Marathon Accuses Sony, Dell, Others of Infringement
By Dan Lonkevich
March 21, 2013 5:45 PM ET
Patent investor Marathon Patent Group (MARA) filed its first infringement lawsuit, accusing a group of companies including Sony Computer Entertainment, Dell and Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association of infringing patents related to online systems for workflow management and collaboration.
Marathon's legal strategy is supported by investors who have made a name for themselves in the small-cap financing market. They include Hudson Bay Capital Management and GRQ Consultants.
Numerous small cap investors are currently focusing on the business of patent monetization.
Other defendants named in Marathon's suit are Winn-Dixie Stores, Siemens' energy division, Juniper Networks, and CB Apex Realtors.
The suit was filed March 20 in U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas.
All of the defendants use an online communications system offered by Hyperoffice to facilitate workflow and collaboration on group tasks, projects and documents, according to the suit.
Marathon, based in Alexandria, Va., said the infringed patents are held by its SAMPO IP LLC unit, which it purchased in November from LVL Patent Group. LVL was owned by Doug Croxall, who took over as chairman and chief executive officer of Marathon following the purchase of LVL's patent portfolio.
"The patents recite systems and methods for centralized communication by storing information and pushing notifications to group participants, providing links to portions of the stored information while restricting access to other portions of the stored information, and pushing notifications to user peripheral," Marathon said in a recent securities filing.
"The defendants have directly infringed, and continue to directly infringe, the claims of the asserted patents by using the accused communications systems and methods covered by the claims of the asserted patents," Marathon said in its lawsuit. "The defendants' infringing acts have caused, and will continue to cause, damage to plaintiff in an amount to be proven in trial."
Marathon is being represented by the law firms of Spangler & Fussell of Longview, Texas, and Stadheim & Grear of Chicago.
Attorneys with the two firms couldn't be reached for comment.
Marathon spokesman Jason Assad declined to comment on how much the company is seeking in damages.
A spokesman for Blue Cross declined to comment on the lawsuit. Representatives of the other the defendants couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Recent patent infringement cases have generated substantial awards for patent investors. VirnetX Holdings Corp. (VHC) won a $200 million settlement from Microsoft in 2010 and a $368 million verdict against Apple last year. VirnetX also recently lost in a patent infringement case against Cisco Systems.
Vringo Inc. (VRNG) won a $31 million award in a patent infringement suit last November against a group of companies that included Google, AOL, and Target Corp.
Marathon Patent Group Announces the Appointment of Craig Nard and Will Rosellini to Board of Directors
ALEXANDRIA, VA--(Marketwire - Mar 11, 2013) - Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (OTCBB: MARA), an Intellectual Property services and monetization company, announced today that it has named Craig Nard and Will Rosellini to its board of directors. The company has determined both qualify as independent directors under Nasdaq and SEC rules.
Mr. Nard is the Tom J.E. and Bette Lou Walker Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Law, Technology & the Arts and the FUSION program at Case Western Reserve University. He is also a Senior Lecturer at the World Intellectual Property Organization Academy in Torino, Italy. Mr. Nard frequently serves as an expert witness and consultant in patent litigation and widely published in the area of patent law, with scholarly articles appearing in notable law journals.
Mr. Nard is also the author of a leading patent law casebook, The Law of Patents, and a co-author of The Law of Intellectual Property. Prior to entering the legal academy, Mr. Nard clerked for the Honorable Giles S. Rich and Helen W. Nies of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. and, before that was a patent litigator in Dallas, Texas. He is a member of the Texas bar, and is licensed to practice before the United States Patent & Trademark Office.
"I am delighted to serve on the board of directors of Marathon Patent Group, and look forward to working with an extraordinarily talented group of IP strategists, research analysts, and inventors," stated Nard.
Mr. Rosellini currently serves as the Executive Chairman of Rosellini Scientific, LLC, a leading global provider of rehabilitation medical devices and services, with a broad range of products used for rehabilitation, pain management and physical therapy in alternative care settings. Rosellini Scientific has a broad research and development program focused on utilizing electricity to improve nervous system health. He previously served as the founding CEO of Microtransponder and Lexington Technology Group. During his tenures as CEO, he has raised nearly $30M in venture funding and $10M in NIH grants. He has been named a MTBC Tech Titan and a GSEA Entrepreneur of the Year and has testified to Congress on the importance of non-dilutive funding for inventors and researchers.
Mr. Rosellini holds a BA in economics from the University of Dallas, a JD from Hofstra Law, an MBA and MS of Accounting from the University of Texas, a MS of Computational Biology from Rutgers, a MS of Regulatory Science from USC and a MS of Neuroscience from University of Texas. Previously, he was a right-handed pitcher who played in the Arizona Diamondbacks system.
"We have made great strides towards building an industry-leading team of IP experts," said Doug Croxall, Chief Executive Officer of Marathon Patent Group. "Members of the Marathon team now include accomplished inventors, lawyers, IP strategists as well as engineers and research specialists. We recently launched our IP Research and Services Center and announced our partnership with IP Navigation, the leader in full-service patent monetization. Today we are pleased to announce the further strengthening of our team with the appointment of Craig Nard and Will Rosellini to our board of directors. I look forward to leveraging their considerable expertise towards the creation of long term shareholder value."
About Marathon Patent Group
Marathon Patent Group (MPG) is an intellectual property services and monetization company that serves a wide range of patent holders and technologies from Fortune 500 to independent inventors. MPG provides clients advice and services that enable them to realize financial and strategic return on their IP rights. MPG serves clients through two complimentary business units: the IP Research & Services Center, which helps to identify and manage patents, and the IP Licensing and Enforcement Group, which acquires IP assets, partners with patent holders, and monetizes patent portfolios through actively managed patent licensing campaigns. MPG is based in Alexandria, Virginia. www.marathonpg.com
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), not limited to Risk Factors relating to its patent business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
While yes Marathon has some of the same founding investors who have filed both 13G's in VRNG and MARA, and are too invested in WDDD, I think Marathon eventually holds the most upside potential. I won't go into all of it but just look at the management team and relationship with IPNav. Here's a recent article you may, or may not have seen that gives some good info.
MARA Is Leveling the IP Playing Field
stored in: Macroeconomics and tagged: ACTG, MARA, VHC
Investors can learn a lot from the past. Some might remember a company called Acacia Resources (ACTG). It wasn’t long ago that investors could buy this company’s stock at just around $2 in early 2009. Fortunes have been made as astute investors took advantage of discount prices knowing intellectual property would soon prove to be a modern day currency leveraged by all the top technology titans. As IP became more relevant and valuable, so have shares of Acacia reaching highs in the $50 range where they now find themselves at approximately $27.50.
This brings me to Marathon Patent Group (MARA) , a newly formed IP company investors would be well served to pay close attention to as I believe it has the potential to not only follow closely in Acacia’s footsteps, but they may be uniquely capable of leveling the entire IP field, setting an entire new standard for the space.
MPG recently announced the naming of patent monetization veteran Doug Croxall as the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. Mr. Croxall was previously the founder and CEO of LVL Patent Group. Mr. Croxall has spent nearly the last decade focused on preserving and enforcing patent holders rights, not limited to the successful prosecution, licensing and monetization of certain intellectual property assets.
The company describes itself as an intellectual property (“IP”) company that serves patent owners ranging from individual inventors to Fortune 500 corporations. Their IP services team devises strategies that allow their clients to maximize the value of their IP assets. In addition to generating revenues through IP consulting engagements, Marathon also partners with inventors and patent owners to monetize patent portfolios through IP licensing campaigns. Their objective is to provide a focused and comprehensive set of IP services that range from analysis of existing IP assets, idea creation, development, prosecution, commercialization, to licensing and enforcement. Marathon provides their clients proprietary analytics, IP valuation methods, partnering opportunities, infringement tracking, patent analysis, strategies, tactics, enforcement, and reporting among other services.
Acacia and other patent holding companies commonly referred to as NPE’s “Non Practicing Entities”, have typically generated revenues via the licensing of patents they have acquired from others. This is where MPG breaks from the norm not limiting itself to just a single revenue vertical.
They are uniquely serving a well underserved market which includes patent owners that lack the financial resources to independently protect their patent rights, something larger companies have often preyed upon in their willful infringement of certain IP owned by these smaller companies.
Two recent news announcements set the stage for possible strong growth in the future. Just today the company announced the following, “Marathon Patent Group, Inc., an Intellectual Property services and monetization company, announced today that it has established a new IP Research and Services Center at the University of Arizona Science & Technology Park in Tucson, Arizona. The center is expected to generate revenues from IP consulting services, facilitate licensing clients, and provide IP licensing support to operating businesses with significant IP assets.
The IP Research and Services Center will be headed by Nathaniel Bradley, an accomplished inventor and IP strategist. Joining Mr. Bradley is a team of engineers, inventors, and research specialists. In addition to Mr. Bradley, who will serve as Marathon’s Chief Technology Officer & President of IP Services, joining MPG are James Crawford, Chief Operating Officer of Marathon, and Douglas Bender, who assumes the role of MPG’s Vice President of Engineering.”
Last week the company telegraphed some very powerful news when it announced it had entered into a strategic relationship with renowned patent attorney Erich Spangenberg’s IPNav, Founded in 2003, IPNav’s full-service patent monetization offering is a unique turnkey solution for patent owners seeking to maximize the value of their IP. IPNav has generated over half a billion dollars in direct licensing revenue and cash settlements for its clients. IPNav’s clients and transaction partners include a large and diverse group of Global 500 corporations, universities, non-profit organizations, and a European government agency.
While pure IP monetization plays like Virnetx (VHC) and Vringo (VRNG) have recently shown investors the huge potential rewards with litigating company owned IP, MPG brings multiple potential verticals into play. MPG will be litigating its own IP, providing IP services to outside companies and also partnering with third party companies looking to monetize IP. Combining these potential lucrative verticals along with its recently announced relationship with Erich Spagenberg’s IPNav company could provide plenty of fireworks in future months as investors learn about this new IP play. Also of interest a recent 13G filing disclosed a 7.94% stake in MPG by Hudson Bay Capital Management. Hudson Bay was also a very early investor in Vringo.
MARA Is Leveling the IP Playing Field
stored in: Macroeconomics and tagged: ACTG, MARA, VHC
Investors can learn a lot from the past. Some might remember a company called Acacia Resources (ACTG). It wasn’t long ago that investors could buy this company’s stock at just around $2 in early 2009. Fortunes have been made as astute investors took advantage of discount prices knowing intellectual property would soon prove to be a modern day currency leveraged by all the top technology titans. As IP became more relevant and valuable, so have shares of Acacia reaching highs in the $50 range where they now find themselves at approximately $27.50.
This brings me to Marathon Patent Group (MARA) , a newly formed IP company investors would be well served to pay close attention to as I believe it has the potential to not only follow closely in Acacia’s footsteps, but they may be uniquely capable of leveling the entire IP field, setting an entire new standard for the space.
MPG recently announced the naming of patent monetization veteran Doug Croxall as the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. Mr. Croxall was previously the founder and CEO of LVL Patent Group. Mr. Croxall has spent nearly the last decade focused on preserving and enforcing patent holders rights, not limited to the successful prosecution, licensing and monetization of certain intellectual property assets.
The company describes itself as an intellectual property (“IP”) company that serves patent owners ranging from individual inventors to Fortune 500 corporations. Their IP services team devises strategies that allow their clients to maximize the value of their IP assets. In addition to generating revenues through IP consulting engagements, Marathon also partners with inventors and patent owners to monetize patent portfolios through IP licensing campaigns. Their objective is to provide a focused and comprehensive set of IP services that range from analysis of existing IP assets, idea creation, development, prosecution, commercialization, to licensing and enforcement. Marathon provides their clients proprietary analytics, IP valuation methods, partnering opportunities, infringement tracking, patent analysis, strategies, tactics, enforcement, and reporting among other services.
Acacia and other patent holding companies commonly referred to as NPE’s “Non Practicing Entities”, have typically generated revenues via the licensing of patents they have acquired from others. This is where MPG breaks from the norm not limiting itself to just a single revenue vertical.
They are uniquely serving a well underserved market which includes patent owners that lack the financial resources to independently protect their patent rights, something larger companies have often preyed upon in their willful infringement of certain IP owned by these smaller companies.
Two recent news announcements set the stage for possible strong growth in the future. Just today the company announced the following, “Marathon Patent Group, Inc., an Intellectual Property services and monetization company, announced today that it has established a new IP Research and Services Center at the University of Arizona Science & Technology Park in Tucson, Arizona. The center is expected to generate revenues from IP consulting services, facilitate licensing clients, and provide IP licensing support to operating businesses with significant IP assets.
The IP Research and Services Center will be headed by Nathaniel Bradley, an accomplished inventor and IP strategist. Joining Mr. Bradley is a team of engineers, inventors, and research specialists. In addition to Mr. Bradley, who will serve as Marathon’s Chief Technology Officer & President of IP Services, joining MPG are James Crawford, Chief Operating Officer of Marathon, and Douglas Bender, who assumes the role of MPG’s Vice President of Engineering.”
Last week the company telegraphed some very powerful news when it announced it had entered into a strategic relationship with renowned patent attorney Erich Spangenberg’s IPNav, Founded in 2003, IPNav’s full-service patent monetization offering is a unique turnkey solution for patent owners seeking to maximize the value of their IP. IPNav has generated over half a billion dollars in direct licensing revenue and cash settlements for its clients. IPNav’s clients and transaction partners include a large and diverse group of Global 500 corporations, universities, non-profit organizations, and a European government agency.
While pure IP monetization plays like Virnetx (VHC) and Vringo (VRNG) have recently shown investors the huge potential rewards with litigating company owned IP, MPG brings multiple potential verticals into play. MPG will be litigating its own IP, providing IP services to outside companies and also partnering with third party companies looking to monetize IP. Combining these potential lucrative verticals along with its recently announced relationship with Erich Spagenberg’s IPNav company could provide plenty of fireworks in future months as investors learn about this new IP play. Also of interest a recent 13G filing disclosed a 7.94% stake in MPG by Hudson Bay Capital Management. Hudson Bay was also a very early investor in Vringo.
The key here is its experienced patent monetization management team and the company's relationship with IPNav.
Importantly, the company's business model is highly unique to the space where they are not solely relying on just a single revenue vertical "lawsuits".
While yes the company has some of the original investors that were behind Vringo, I see Marathon as a much better model and having far more eventual upside due to its multiple revenue streams.
I look for this stock to trade higher near term. Eventually I see it as having Acacia "ACTG" like potential. Some remember that ACTG also traded at comparable low levels until eventually reaching highs in the $50 plus range. Stock is currently $29.
MARA $.40
Patent Investor Marathon Accuses Sony, Dell, Others of Infringement
By Dan Lonkevich
March 21, 2013 5:45 PM ET
Patent investor Marathon Patent Group (MARA) filed its first infringement lawsuit, accusing a group of companies including Sony Computer Entertainment, Dell and Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association of infringing patents related to online systems for workflow management and collaboration.
Marathon's legal strategy is supported by investors who have made a name for themselves in the small-cap financing market. They include Hudson Bay Capital Management and GRQ Consultants. Numerous small cap investors are currently focusing on the business of patent monetization.
Other defendants named in Marathon's suit are Winn-Dixie Stores, Siemens' energy division, Juniper Networks, and CB Apex Realtors.
The suit was filed March 20 in U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas.
All of the defendants use an online communications system offered by Hyperoffice to facilitate workflow and collaboration on group tasks, projects and documents, according to the suit.
Marathon, based in Alexandria, Va., said the infringed patents are held by its SAMPO IP LLC unit, which it purchased in November from LVL Patent Group. LVL was owned by Doug Croxall, who took over as chairman and chief executive officer of Marathon following the purchase of LVL's patent portfolio.
"The patents recite systems and methods for centralized communication by storing information and pushing notifications to group participants, providing links to portions of the stored information while restricting access to other portions of the stored information, and pushing notifications to user peripheral," Marathon said in a recent securities filing.
"The defendants have directly infringed, and continue to directly infringe, the claims of the asserted patents by using the accused communications systems and methods covered by the claims of the asserted patents," Marathon said in its lawsuit. "The defendants' infringing acts have caused, and will continue to cause, damage to plaintiff in an amount to be proven in trial."
Marathon is being represented by the law firms of Spangler & Fussell of Longview, Texas, and Stadheim & Grear of Chicago. Attorneys with the two firms couldn't be reached for comment.
Marathon spokesman Jason Assad declined to comment on how much the company is seeking in damages.
A spokesman for Blue Cross declined to comment on the lawsuit. Representatives of the other the defendants couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Recent patent infringement cases have generated substantial awards for patent investors. VirnetX Holdings Corp. (VHC) won a $200 million settlement from Microsoft in 2010 and a $368 million verdict against Apple last year. VirnetX also recently lost in a patent infringement case against Cisco Systems.
Vringo Inc. (VRNG) won a $31 million award in a patent infringement suit last November against a group of companies that included Google, AOL, and Target Corp.
MARA $0.40
Patent Investor Marathon Accuses Sony, Dell, Others of Infringement
By Dan Lonkevich
March 21, 2013 5:45 PM ET
Patent investor Marathon Patent Group (MARA) filed its first infringement lawsuit, accusing a group of companies including Sony Computer Entertainment, Dell and Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association of infringing patents related to online systems for workflow management and collaboration.
Marathon's legal strategy is supported by investors who have made a name for themselves in the small-cap financing market. They include Hudson Bay Capital Management and GRQ Consultants. Numerous small cap investors are currently focusing on the business of patent monetization.
Other defendants named in Marathon's suit are Winn-Dixie Stores, Siemens' energy division, Juniper Networks, and CB Apex Realtors.
The suit was filed March 20 in U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas.
All of the defendants use an online communications system offered by Hyperoffice to facilitate workflow and collaboration on group tasks, projects and documents, according to the suit.
Marathon, based in Alexandria, Va., said the infringed patents are held by its SAMPO IP LLC unit, which it purchased in November from LVL Patent Group. LVL was owned by Doug Croxall, who took over as chairman and chief executive officer of Marathon following the purchase of LVL's patent portfolio.
"The patents recite systems and methods for centralized communication by storing information and pushing notifications to group participants, providing links to portions of the stored information while restricting access to other portions of the stored information, and pushing notifications to user peripheral," Marathon said in a recent securities filing.
"The defendants have directly infringed, and continue to directly infringe, the claims of the asserted patents by using the accused communications systems and methods covered by the claims of the asserted patents," Marathon said in its lawsuit. "The defendants' infringing acts have caused, and will continue to cause, damage to plaintiff in an amount to be proven in trial."
Marathon is being represented by the law firms of Spangler & Fussell of Longview, Texas, and Stadheim & Grear of Chicago. Attorneys with the two firms couldn't be reached for comment.
Marathon spokesman Jason Assad declined to comment on how much the company is seeking in damages.
A spokesman for Blue Cross declined to comment on the lawsuit. Representatives of the other the defendants couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Recent patent infringement cases have generated substantial awards for patent investors. VirnetX Holdings Corp. (VHC) won a $200 million settlement from Microsoft in 2010 and a $368 million verdict against Apple last year. VirnetX also recently lost in a patent infringement case against Cisco Systems.
Vringo Inc. (VRNG) won a $31 million award in a patent infringement suit last November against a group of companies that included Google, AOL, and Target Corp.
MARA Is Leveling the IP Playing Field
stored in: Macroeconomics and tagged: ACTG, MARA, VHC
Investors can learn a lot from the past. Some might remember a company called Acacia Resources (ACTG). It wasn’t long ago that investors could buy this company’s stock at just around $2 in early 2009. Fortunes have been made as astute investors took advantage of discount prices knowing intellectual property would soon prove to be a modern day currency leveraged by all the top technology titans. As IP became more relevant and valuable, so have shares of Acacia reaching highs in the $50 range where they now find themselves at approximately $27.50.
This brings me to Marathon Patent Group (MARA) , a newly formed IP company investors would be well served to pay close attention to as I believe it has the potential to not only follow closely in Acacia’s footsteps, but they may be uniquely capable of leveling the entire IP field, setting an entire new standard for the space.
MPG recently announced the naming of patent monetization veteran Doug Croxall as the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. Mr. Croxall was previously the founder and CEO of LVL Patent Group. Mr. Croxall has spent nearly the last decade focused on preserving and enforcing patent holders rights, not limited to the successful prosecution, licensing and monetization of certain intellectual property assets.
The company describes itself as an intellectual property (“IP”) company that serves patent owners ranging from individual inventors to Fortune 500 corporations. Their IP services team devises strategies that allow their clients to maximize the value of their IP assets. In addition to generating revenues through IP consulting engagements, Marathon also partners with inventors and patent owners to monetize patent portfolios through IP licensing campaigns. Their objective is to provide a focused and comprehensive set of IP services that range from analysis of existing IP assets, idea creation, development, prosecution, commercialization, to licensing and enforcement. Marathon provides their clients proprietary analytics, IP valuation methods, partnering opportunities, infringement tracking, patent analysis, strategies, tactics, enforcement, and reporting among other services.
Acacia and other patent holding companies commonly referred to as NPE’s “Non Practicing Entities”, have typically generated revenues via the licensing of patents they have acquired from others. This is where MPG breaks from the norm not limiting itself to just a single revenue vertical.
They are uniquely serving a well underserved market which includes patent owners that lack the financial resources to independently protect their patent rights, something larger companies have often preyed upon in their willful infringement of certain IP owned by these smaller companies.
Two recent news announcements set the stage for possible strong growth in the future. Just today the company announced the following, “Marathon Patent Group, Inc., an Intellectual Property services and monetization company, announced today that it has established a new IP Research and Services Center at the University of Arizona Science & Technology Park in Tucson, Arizona. The center is expected to generate revenues from IP consulting services, facilitate licensing clients, and provide IP licensing support to operating businesses with significant IP assets.
The IP Research and Services Center will be headed by Nathaniel Bradley, an accomplished inventor and IP strategist. Joining Mr. Bradley is a team of engineers, inventors, and research specialists. In addition to Mr. Bradley, who will serve as Marathon’s Chief Technology Officer & President of IP Services, joining MPG are James Crawford, Chief Operating Officer of Marathon, and Douglas Bender, who assumes the role of MPG’s Vice President of Engineering.”
Last week the company telegraphed some very powerful news when it announced it had entered into a strategic relationship with renowned patent attorney Erich Spangenberg’s IPNav, Founded in 2003, IPNav’s full-service patent monetization offering is a unique turnkey solution for patent owners seeking to maximize the value of their IP. IPNav has generated over half a billion dollars in direct licensing revenue and cash settlements for its clients. IPNav’s clients and transaction partners include a large and diverse group of Global 500 corporations, universities, non-profit organizations, and a European government agency.
While pure IP monetization plays like Virnetx (VHC) and Vringo (VRNG) have recently shown investors the huge potential rewards with litigating company owned IP, MPG brings multiple potential verticals into play. MPG will be litigating its own IP, providing IP services to outside companies and also partnering with third party companies looking to monetize IP. Combining these potential lucrative verticals along with its recently announced relationship with Erich Spagenberg’s IPNav company could provide plenty of fireworks in future months as investors learn about this new IP play. Also of interest a recent 13G filing disclosed a 7.94% stake in MPG by Hudson Bay Capital Management. Hudson Bay was also a very early investor in Vringo.
IP Investor Marathon Preparing to Enforce Patents on Systems for Group Communication
By Dan Lonkevich
March 14, 2013
Intellectual property investor Marathon Patent Group (MARA) is reviewing strategies for bringing enforcement actions to protect three patents that cover systems and methods for centralized group communication, Chief Executive Officer Doug Croxall said in an interview.
Marathon's legal strategy is backed a group of investors and advisers who, in the past, have been active in financing small cap companies. These market players include Hudson Bay Capital Management and GRQ Consultants. Marathon is one of a series of investments that these firms have made in companies whose main strategies involve filing patent-infringement lawsuits.
"The patents recite systems and methods for centralized communication by storing information and pushing notifications to group participants, providing links to portions of the stored information while restricting access to other portions of the stored information, and pushing notifications to user peripheral," Marathon said in a recent securities filing.
Such systems and methods for centralized group communication may apply to numerous applications including enterprise social media, such as Microsoft's Yammer and Salesforce.com's Chatter.
Croxall declined to identify the targets of the enforcement actions other than to say they were in the Fortune 1000.
Croxall, 44, became chairman and CEO of Alexandria, Va.-based Marathon in November when it was still known by its former name, American Strategic Minerals Corp. The company had just bought a portfolio of intellectual property from Croxall's previous firm LVL Patent Group.
After a name change and the recruitment of a new management team and board, Marathon is now ready to pursue patent enforcement actions, Croxall said.
Capital Needs
Marathon is currently burning about $150,000 a month in cash and has cash and cash equivalents of about $3 million, according to Croxall.
He said that the company doesn't need to raise money to bring the lawsuits it plans in the first phase of its strategy. Marathon's legal costs will be "pretty de minimis," Croxall said, because law firms typically take patent enforcement actions on a contingency basis.
Croxall said, however, that he would like to raise capital to acquire more intellectual property.
"There are about a dozen opportunities I would like to raise capital for," he said.
The portfolios could be bought for $500,000 to $10 million, Croxall said.
He said that Marathon has hired Minneapolis-based Lake Street Capital Markets to help it raise up to $8 million. The capital would allow Marathon to purchase the patent portfolios it wants and still have capital available for new portfolios that come onto the market.
Lake Street representatives couldn't be reached for comment.
Croxall said he expects Marathon to be cash flow positive by the end of the year.
FirePond
Croxall got his start in the patent monetization business in 2003 after he acquired FirePond, a Mankato, Minn.-based maker of software modules that allowed a company's sales force to configure pricing and quotations of products for customers.
"I bought the company and took it private," Croxall said. "One of its assets was a patent portfolio I didn't know what to do with."
Working with Erich Spangenberg, the CEO of Dallas-based patent monetization firm IP Navigation Group, Croxall said he generated about $100 million in revenue over six years with FirePond's patent portfolio.
With that experience in Croxall's background, Marathon is also providing assessments of patent portfolios for customers. These services include helping inventors and patent owners understand and improve their assets. The firm will also advise clients on how to commercialize or license their patents, and enforcement.
"Inventors and patent owners come to us with a portfolio of patents," Croxall said. "We look at their portfolio, do the analysis of the market, who the infringers are, the potential infringement cases, and what we think they can make."
Croxall started LVL Patent Group in 2008 and was its CEO until he sold its portfolio to Marathon last year. He also started and ran financial services and real estate services firm Kenai Capital in Los Angeles from 2001 to 2010.
Croxall was FirePond's CEO from its acquisition in 2003 until 2008. The company went public in 2006. It was later taken over by FPX LLC, a privately held company led by Audrey Spangenberg, the wife of Erich Spangenberg. FPX had been FirePond's biggest creditor.
Croxall also worked with and invested with Spangenberg's Dallas-based venture capital firm Acclaim Financial Group.
Prior to his investments in intellectual property, Croxall was a consultant with KPMG in the 1990's and was CFO of Load Media Network, a startup developer of video-downloading software, from 1999 to 2001.
Patent Troll
The business of selling or licensing intellectual property, as Marathon intends to do, is controversial. Companies that focus on patent monetization as their main business, rather than using intellectual property to make their own products, are often disparaged as "patent trolls." Many technology industry observers accuse them of stifling innovation with the threat of patent infringement lawsuits.
Croxall says that the business is misunderstood. He argues that patent monetization firms like Marathon help small players to defend their rights to what they create from big technology companies.
"There are too many examples of inventors who aren't properly compensated for their inventions," Croxall said. "It's a noble profession to defend those who can't, won't, or don't have the ability to defend themselves."
Patent monetization was American Strategic Minerals' second business transformation in the past year. It followed a temporary move into the business of buying, fixing up, and reselling foreclosed properties. The company has only one property left over from the real estate strategy and will soon be finished with that business, Croxall said.
Prior to that, American Strategic Minerals had been a miner of uranium and precious metals.
The company changed its name to Marathon last month.
American Strategic Minerals was formed in a reverse merger with registered shell company Verve Ventures in January 2012. At the time, it raised $5.8 million from a private placement of common stock to investors including the former Sagebrush Gold Ltd.
Investors
Hudson Bay Capital, one of the biggest investors in private placements by small cap companies, owns a 7.94% stake in Marathon. The New York-based firm also has large investments in publicly traded IP firms Spherix Inc. (SPEX) and Vringo Inc. (VRNG).
Hudson Bay also recently formed a new company, Networks 3 Inc., which it's using to buy a portfolio of patents from Tel Aviv, Israel-based telecommunications equipment maker Orckit Communications (ORCT). Orckit will receive $5 million plus stock and a share of profits from future patent infringement actions.
Vringo drew attention to the patent-monetization strategy in November when it won a $31 million award in a patent infringement suit against a group of companies that included Google, AOL and Target Corp.
Sander Gerber, the CEO of Hudson Bay, declined to comment.
Other investors in Marathon include Barry Honig. He's also an investor in Spherix and is co-chairman of Irvine, Calif.-based ChromaDex Corp. (CDXC), which supplies ingredients to the food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and nutritional supplement industries.
Honig also founded and runs GRQ Consultants, an investor in and consultant to early-stage companies. He has a 6.85% stake in Marathon.
Erich and Audrey Spangenberg are also investors.
They couldn't be reached for comment.
Croxall said he's known and worked with Erich Spangenberg for 15 years and described their professional and personal relationship as "very close."
Croxall has the largest stake in Marathon at 9.2%.
Last month, Marathon announced a strategic relationship with IP Navigation to find and execute patent monetization opportunities.
Augme Acquisition
Earlier this month, Marathon also acquired some assets from Augme Technologies (AUGT), a provider of mobile marketing and advertising technology to consumer and health care companies.
With the acquisition of Augme's assets, Nathaniel Bradley joined Marathon as chief technology officer and James Crawford joined as chief operating officer. Bradley had been chief technology officer and product officer of Augme and Crawford had been Augme's chief information officer.
Bradley, Crawford, and their team had primarily been involved in the development of new patents and generating value from existing intellectual property at Augme.
Marathon also is using the Augme team to establish a new IP Research and Services Center at the University of Arizona Science & Technology Park in Tucson. It's expected to generate revenue from IP consulting services.
The IP Research and Services Center will be headed by Bradley, who will also serve as Marathon's president of IP services. He will lead a team of engineers, inventors, and research specialists.
Other new hires include Douglas Bender, who assumes the role of Marathon's vice president of engineering. Bender also came from Augme Technologies, where he had been a senior vice president of engineering and IP development.
The company also recently added two new board members: Craig Nard and William Rosellini. Nard is a law professor at Case Western Reserve University. Rosellini is the founder and chairman of medical device company Microtransponder Inc. and medical technology company Rosellini Scientific LLC.
Rosellini is also a director of another patent investment firm called Lexington Technology Group.
2 cents...looking for 10.
Coupon Express, Inc. Signs Kiosk Leasing Agreement With Premium Leasing, LLC
Agreement Expected to Significantly Increase the Number of Kiosk Deployments in 2013
Press Release: Coupon Express, Inc. – 3 hours ago.. .
.
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Mar 11, 2013) - Coupon Express, Inc. ( OTCQB : CPXP ) today announced the signing of a Kiosk leasing facility with Premium Leasing, LLC of Vestal, New York. The terms of the agreement include a twenty five (25%) percent down payment in each Kiosk leased, which will be manufactured by Northeast United Corp., our current manufacturer of Kiosks.
Barry Newman, President of Premium Leasing, LLC, stated, "We are pleased with Coupon Express' ability to operate its business in a highly efficient model. Specifically, I have additional confidence in Eric Kash, CEO of Coupon Express, Inc. and his management team. They continue to demonstrate tangible results in the form of both strong growth in deployments and paid ads per Kiosk."
Eric Kash, CEO of Coupon Express, Inc., stated, "Our leasing facility with Premium Leasing, LLC should allow Coupon Express, Inc. to accelerate expansion with our strategic partners and provide the opportunity to attract additional supermarket retailers. We have proven to be an effective partner to our customers, helping them increase their sales of food, health/beauty aids and alcohol products. At the same time, the manufacturers of these products are experiencing increased cycle time of information for coupon printing and redemptions."
Mr. Kash added, "The flexibility of our Kiosks permits coupons to be placed in individual locations, including a specific city or region of the country. Traditional lead times for a comprehensive coupon campaign could range as long as 90-180 days. With Coupon Express, it requires just 24 hour notice. In some circumstances, changes may be facilitated in as short as just 15 minutes."
"The goal of Coupon Express' expansion continues to remain the unlocking of value for our shareholders. This agreement is another milestone with that goal squarely in mind," concluded Kash.
About Coupon Express, Inc.
Coupon Express, Inc. provides innovative interactive customer communications systems and applications that support targeted marketing programs with unique point-of-purchase (POP) services and information that serve shoppers and distributors while building loyalty and revenue for the Company's primary clients. Through its proprietary multifunction kiosks and services, we provide in-store customized couponing, in multiple languages, for immediate impact in regional, independent retailers in the grocery and convenience store industries, enabling retailers to quickly determine ideal price-points for new products and mitigate losses from hard-to-sell items.
2 cents...looking for 10.
Coupon Express, Inc. Signs Kiosk Leasing Agreement With Premium Leasing, LLC
Agreement Expected to Significantly Increase the Number of Kiosk Deployments in 2013
Press Release: Coupon Express, Inc. – 3 hours ago.. .
.
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Mar 11, 2013) - Coupon Express, Inc. ( OTCQB : CPXP ) today announced the signing of a Kiosk leasing facility with Premium Leasing, LLC of Vestal, New York. The terms of the agreement include a twenty five (25%) percent down payment in each Kiosk leased, which will be manufactured by Northeast United Corp., our current manufacturer of Kiosks.
Barry Newman, President of Premium Leasing, LLC, stated, "We are pleased with Coupon Express' ability to operate its business in a highly efficient model. Specifically, I have additional confidence in Eric Kash, CEO of Coupon Express, Inc. and his management team. They continue to demonstrate tangible results in the form of both strong growth in deployments and paid ads per Kiosk."
Eric Kash, CEO of Coupon Express, Inc., stated, "Our leasing facility with Premium Leasing, LLC should allow Coupon Express, Inc. to accelerate expansion with our strategic partners and provide the opportunity to attract additional supermarket retailers. We have proven to be an effective partner to our customers, helping them increase their sales of food, health/beauty aids and alcohol products. At the same time, the manufacturers of these products are experiencing increased cycle time of information for coupon printing and redemptions."
Mr. Kash added, "The flexibility of our Kiosks permits coupons to be placed in individual locations, including a specific city or region of the country. Traditional lead times for a comprehensive coupon campaign could range as long as 90-180 days. With Coupon Express, it requires just 24 hour notice. In some circumstances, changes may be facilitated in as short as just 15 minutes."
"The goal of Coupon Express' expansion continues to remain the unlocking of value for our shareholders. This agreement is another milestone with that goal squarely in mind," concluded Kash.
About Coupon Express, Inc.
Coupon Express, Inc. provides innovative interactive customer communications systems and applications that support targeted marketing programs with unique point-of-purchase (POP) services and information that serve shoppers and distributors while building loyalty and revenue for the Company's primary clients. Through its proprietary multifunction kiosks and services, we provide in-store customized couponing, in multiple languages, for immediate impact in regional, independent retailers in the grocery and convenience store industries, enabling retailers to quickly determine ideal price-points for new products and mitigate losses from hard-to-sell items.
SPDL $1.95.
http://www.morningstar.com/topics/t/70567632/spin-up-massive-profits-in-mobile-payments-with-spindle-inc.htm
In the first article I published on SeekingAlpha, The Future Is CLIR: Why The Shorts Are Wrong About ClearSign Combustion, in addition to presenting the case why long-term investors in ClearSign (CLIR) will be heavily rewarded, I talked about my background founding and building early-stage technology companies since the mid 1990s, including being one of the first 200 employees at Yahoo! (YHOO). I also shared how my philosophy around investing in tech start-ups has shifted from looking primarily at private companies to what I refer to as "public venture capital." Basically, I'm doing a lot more investments in "Intellectual Property" as an asset class - essentially, betting on early-stage public companies with patents and other IP that serve as competitive barriers to entry.
Today I'm going to tell you about a two year-old company in the online and mobile payment processing space called Spindle, Inc. (SPDL.OB). Think of Spindle as a public way to play the success of such hot, private companies as Square, Braintree, and Stripe, which have raised $341MM, $69MM, and $38MM of venture capital, respectively, from some of the most prestigious investors in Silicon Valley.
Rather than attempting to compete with its own consumer brand, Spindle, based in Scottsdale, AZ, has a patented, cloud-based payment solution that enables its customers - banks and financial institutions, telecommunications companies and other businesses - to offer their own branded payment-related products to their customer bases. The beauty of the model is Spindle's customers get access to a robust, scalable, cost-effective suite of "white-label" products, which can be sold individually or bundled together, and can market them under their own brand. Meanwhile, Spindle, whose platform is working behind-the-scenes, takes a small fee on all transactions. Over time, hundreds of millions of dollars (potentially billions) annually will flow through its system. And that's why I'm so excited about this company! In short, Spindle checks the box on the three most important factors of early-stage investing: big market opportunity, seasoned management and strong technology platform with IP.
Market Opportunity
IE Market Research, a Canadian market intelligence and business strategy research and consulting firm, says the value of global mobile payment transactions (such as merchandise, digital products, ticketing, mobile money transfers, bill payments, and pre-paid top-ups) will reach nearly $1 Trillion by 2016. Yes, TRILLION! Another report from Forrester Research, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based research and advisory firm, forecasts that U.S. mobile payments will reach $90B in 2017, a 48% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from the $12.8B spent in 2012.
Spindle is already tapping into the international market through its partnership with Singapore-based Utiba, a leading global provider of mobile financial services solutions. In the deal, which was announced last October, Spindle will provide low-cost mobile acceptance technology and services to complement Utiba's Converging Payments solutions, which were borne out of a partnership with MasterCard (MA).
Net-net, the global mobile payment space Spindle competes in is absolutely gigantic and growing phenomenally quickly, so the opportunities are tremendous. Another one I'll quickly highlight is the company's deal with SLIDE, which was announced in November. As part of the agreement, Spindle will provide its secure payments infrastructure for the SLIDE offering that will get marketed in select MetroPCS (PCS) distributors. In my conversations with Spindle management, they said numerous other partnerships and joint ventures are in the pipeline, but they wouldn't get into specifics.
Management
There are only about a dozen people working at Spindle - remember, Instagram only had about 14 when it was acquired by Facebook (FB) last year for upwards of $1 Billion - and the handful of execs at Spindle have the background, experience and network to make this a high-growth company that's going to be a great acquisition target in the next six-24 months. In David Ide, the Executive Chairman, we have a mobile industry veteran who very successfully ran Augme Technologies (AUGT), a mobile marketing company, during which time the stock went from under a quarter a share to over $4 before he left to co-found Spindle. Bill Clark, Spindle's President, has more than 25 years in the payments industry, including 17 years at First Data Corporation and was responsible for $350MM in annual sales. And it recently brought Brian Voigt and John Tharpe over from Bank of America (BAC) Merchant Services (BAMS) to lead its Strategy and Business Development. Both guys have 20+ years of relevant experience. Voigt served as Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at BAMS where he was most recently focused on defining the mobile Point of Sale ("POS") and unattended industry (vending machines) strategies. He's also worked at First Data and Chase Paymentech (JPM) as a top revenue producer. Tharpe was also a former Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at BAMS, where he worked to establish BAMS' mobile wallet, third-party payment gateway, professional sports and mobile payments strategies. Tharpe was previously involved in building several successful payment companies including Official Payments Corp., TrustCommerce, and Global Payments. Finally, Kevin McNish, Spindle's VP of Product Development, has 15 years of experience in the information and electronic transaction processing industry. His background includes product management and new business development at First Data Merchant Services.
Technology Platform & Intellectual Property
Spindle has built a substantial technology platform and, according to its 10-K filed last March, the company "owns 4 patents and it has an additional 3 patents pending with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. In addition Spindle owns the right to royalty-free use of five issued patents and one pending application in the secure encryption, media, and document security space."
The company's portfolio includes a family of patents that are foundational to the methods used in networked payments - "Processing Payment on the Internet" (now pending with the USPTO) - and their "Financial Transaction System" (#5,822,737) family of patents, which discuss "an automated payment system particularly suited for purchases over a distributed computer network" have been referenced over 140 times by companies including PayPal, a business unit of eBay, Inc. (EBAY), Visa (V), Priceline.com (PCLN), AT&T (T), and First Data Corporation (FDC) as foundational to portions of their intellectual property portfolios.
Although Spindle is focused on building a business around its IP, the company has retained Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo P.C. to manage prosecution of the portfolio and the continuation of USP 5,822,737, which the company believes is foundational to electronic payments over a network of computers (including ecommerce and mcommerce payment processing), as the patent has a priority date of 1996.
Along with Mintz Levin, Spindle has engaged HLP Integration to evaluate the patent portfolio and explore opportunities to create layers of new IP as well as "monetization," which includes both licensing as well as litigation. I view any income from these efforts as "gravy," but in my conversations with management, it's clear this could be tens of millions of dollars. From what I gather, Mintz and HLP will be working together on Spindle's behalf while the management team focuses on the core payment processing business.
From a platform perspective, Spindle's Ide believes his company was the first PCI Level 1 Compliant company using Amazon's (AMZN) AWS cloud (Amazon EC2), and the company offers a secure, white label mobile wallet product with similar functionality as Google Wallet (GOOG) and PayPal Mobile. In case you're unfamiliar with mobile wallets, Mobile Commerce Daily calls them "the new credit card." If you're interested in learning more, I urge you to check out this piece from BusinessInsider, which uses an infographic to simplify the explanation.
Revenue Stage
My research indicates Spindle began generating revenue in Q4 last year, so I'm looking forward to getting details in its next quarterly filing. With a large and expanding market, robust technology platform and an experienced team with deep industry relationships, it wouldn't surprise me if these guys start putting up some pretty impressive numbers very quickly.
Conclusion
As I've written previously, my early-stage investing focus has evolved from exclusively private companies to predominantly public ones because of the disclosure and oversight that comes with investing in companies filing publicly with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) combined with the fact that there's a shorter time horizon for liquidity without sacrificing potential returns. And that's why I've made a pretty big financial bet on Spindle. I believe the shares offer significant upside potential to early investors over the next couple of years.
In summary, the combination of a large and fast-growing market combined with Spindle's solid management team and powerful technology platform (built by experienced payments industry veterans and backed by strong intellectual property) make this a very exciting investment opportunity and one worth serious consideration.
SPDL $1.95.
http://www.morningstar.com/topics/t/70567632/spin-up-massive-profits-in-mobile-payments-with-spindle-inc.htm
In the first article I published on SeekingAlpha, The Future Is CLIR: Why The Shorts Are Wrong About ClearSign Combustion, in addition to presenting the case why long-term investors in ClearSign (CLIR) will be heavily rewarded, I talked about my background founding and building early-stage technology companies since the mid 1990s, including being one of the first 200 employees at Yahoo! (YHOO). I also shared how my philosophy around investing in tech start-ups has shifted from looking primarily at private companies to what I refer to as "public venture capital." Basically, I'm doing a lot more investments in "Intellectual Property" as an asset class - essentially, betting on early-stage public companies with patents and other IP that serve as competitive barriers to entry.
Today I'm going to tell you about a two year-old company in the online and mobile payment processing space called Spindle, Inc. (SPDL.OB). Think of Spindle as a public way to play the success of such hot, private companies as Square, Braintree, and Stripe, which have raised $341MM, $69MM, and $38MM of venture capital, respectively, from some of the most prestigious investors in Silicon Valley.
Rather than attempting to compete with its own consumer brand, Spindle, based in Scottsdale, AZ, has a patented, cloud-based payment solution that enables its customers - banks and financial institutions, telecommunications companies and other businesses - to offer their own branded payment-related products to their customer bases. The beauty of the model is Spindle's customers get access to a robust, scalable, cost-effective suite of "white-label" products, which can be sold individually or bundled together, and can market them under their own brand. Meanwhile, Spindle, whose platform is working behind-the-scenes, takes a small fee on all transactions. Over time, hundreds of millions of dollars (potentially billions) annually will flow through its system. And that's why I'm so excited about this company! In short, Spindle checks the box on the three most important factors of early-stage investing: big market opportunity, seasoned management and strong technology platform with IP.
Market Opportunity
IE Market Research, a Canadian market intelligence and business strategy research and consulting firm, says the value of global mobile payment transactions (such as merchandise, digital products, ticketing, mobile money transfers, bill payments, and pre-paid top-ups) will reach nearly $1 Trillion by 2016. Yes, TRILLION! Another report from Forrester Research, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based research and advisory firm, forecasts that U.S. mobile payments will reach $90B in 2017, a 48% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from the $12.8B spent in 2012.
Spindle is already tapping into the international market through its partnership with Singapore-based Utiba, a leading global provider of mobile financial services solutions. In the deal, which was announced last October, Spindle will provide low-cost mobile acceptance technology and services to complement Utiba's Converging Payments solutions, which were borne out of a partnership with MasterCard (MA).
Net-net, the global mobile payment space Spindle competes in is absolutely gigantic and growing phenomenally quickly, so the opportunities are tremendous. Another one I'll quickly highlight is the company's deal with SLIDE, which was announced in November. As part of the agreement, Spindle will provide its secure payments infrastructure for the SLIDE offering that will get marketed in select MetroPCS (PCS) distributors. In my conversations with Spindle management, they said numerous other partnerships and joint ventures are in the pipeline, but they wouldn't get into specifics.
Management
There are only about a dozen people working at Spindle - remember, Instagram only had about 14 when it was acquired by Facebook (FB) last year for upwards of $1 Billion - and the handful of execs at Spindle have the background, experience and network to make this a high-growth company that's going to be a great acquisition target in the next six-24 months. In David Ide, the Executive Chairman, we have a mobile industry veteran who very successfully ran Augme Technologies (AUGT), a mobile marketing company, during which time the stock went from under a quarter a share to over $4 before he left to co-found Spindle. Bill Clark, Spindle's President, has more than 25 years in the payments industry, including 17 years at First Data Corporation and was responsible for $350MM in annual sales. And it recently brought Brian Voigt and John Tharpe over from Bank of America (BAC) Merchant Services (BAMS) to lead its Strategy and Business Development. Both guys have 20+ years of relevant experience. Voigt served as Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at BAMS where he was most recently focused on defining the mobile Point of Sale ("POS") and unattended industry (vending machines) strategies. He's also worked at First Data and Chase Paymentech (JPM) as a top revenue producer. Tharpe was also a former Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at BAMS, where he worked to establish BAMS' mobile wallet, third-party payment gateway, professional sports and mobile payments strategies. Tharpe was previously involved in building several successful payment companies including Official Payments Corp., TrustCommerce, and Global Payments. Finally, Kevin McNish, Spindle's VP of Product Development, has 15 years of experience in the information and electronic transaction processing industry. His background includes product management and new business development at First Data Merchant Services.
Technology Platform & Intellectual Property
Spindle has built a substantial technology platform and, according to its 10-K filed last March, the company "owns 4 patents and it has an additional 3 patents pending with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. In addition Spindle owns the right to royalty-free use of five issued patents and one pending application in the secure encryption, media, and document security space."
The company's portfolio includes a family of patents that are foundational to the methods used in networked payments - "Processing Payment on the Internet" (now pending with the USPTO) - and their "Financial Transaction System" (#5,822,737) family of patents, which discuss "an automated payment system particularly suited for purchases over a distributed computer network" have been referenced over 140 times by companies including PayPal, a business unit of eBay, Inc. (EBAY), Visa (V), Priceline.com (PCLN), AT&T (T), and First Data Corporation (FDC) as foundational to portions of their intellectual property portfolios.
Although Spindle is focused on building a business around its IP, the company has retained Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo P.C. to manage prosecution of the portfolio and the continuation of USP 5,822,737, which the company believes is foundational to electronic payments over a network of computers (including ecommerce and mcommerce payment processing), as the patent has a priority date of 1996.
Along with Mintz Levin, Spindle has engaged HLP Integration to evaluate the patent portfolio and explore opportunities to create layers of new IP as well as "monetization," which includes both licensing as well as litigation. I view any income from these efforts as "gravy," but in my conversations with management, it's clear this could be tens of millions of dollars. From what I gather, Mintz and HLP will be working together on Spindle's behalf while the management team focuses on the core payment processing business.
From a platform perspective, Spindle's Ide believes his company was the first PCI Level 1 Compliant company using Amazon's (AMZN) AWS cloud (Amazon EC2), and the company offers a secure, white label mobile wallet product with similar functionality as Google Wallet (GOOG) and PayPal Mobile. In case you're unfamiliar with mobile wallets, Mobile Commerce Daily calls them "the new credit card." If you're interested in learning more, I urge you to check out this piece from BusinessInsider, which uses an infographic to simplify the explanation.
Revenue Stage
My research indicates Spindle began generating revenue in Q4 last year, so I'm looking forward to getting details in its next quarterly filing. With a large and expanding market, robust technology platform and an experienced team with deep industry relationships, it wouldn't surprise me if these guys start putting up some pretty impressive numbers very quickly.
Conclusion
As I've written previously, my early-stage investing focus has evolved from exclusively private companies to predominantly public ones because of the disclosure and oversight that comes with investing in companies filing publicly with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) combined with the fact that there's a shorter time horizon for liquidity without sacrificing potential returns. And that's why I've made a pretty big financial bet on Spindle. I believe the shares offer significant upside potential to early investors over the next couple of years.
In summary, the combination of a large and fast-growing market combined with Spindle's solid management team and powerful technology platform (built by experienced payments industry veterans and backed by strong intellectual property) make this a very exciting investment opportunity and one worth serious consideration.
SPDL $1.95.
http://www.morningstar.com/topics/t/70567632/spin-up-massive-profits-in-mobile-payments-with-spindle-inc.htm
In the first article I published on SeekingAlpha, The Future Is CLIR: Why The Shorts Are Wrong About ClearSign Combustion, in addition to presenting the case why long-term investors in ClearSign (CLIR) will be heavily rewarded, I talked about my background founding and building early-stage technology companies since the mid 1990s, including being one of the first 200 employees at Yahoo! (YHOO). I also shared how my philosophy around investing in tech start-ups has shifted from looking primarily at private companies to what I refer to as "public venture capital." Basically, I'm doing a lot more investments in "Intellectual Property" as an asset class - essentially, betting on early-stage public companies with patents and other IP that serve as competitive barriers to entry.
Today I'm going to tell you about a two year-old company in the online and mobile payment processing space called Spindle, Inc. (SPDL.OB). Think of Spindle as a public way to play the success of such hot, private companies as Square, Braintree, and Stripe, which have raised $341MM, $69MM, and $38MM of venture capital, respectively, from some of the most prestigious investors in Silicon Valley.
Rather than attempting to compete with its own consumer brand, Spindle, based in Scottsdale, AZ, has a patented, cloud-based payment solution that enables its customers - banks and financial institutions, telecommunications companies and other businesses - to offer their own branded payment-related products to their customer bases. The beauty of the model is Spindle's customers get access to a robust, scalable, cost-effective suite of "white-label" products, which can be sold individually or bundled together, and can market them under their own brand. Meanwhile, Spindle, whose platform is working behind-the-scenes, takes a small fee on all transactions. Over time, hundreds of millions of dollars (potentially billions) annually will flow through its system. And that's why I'm so excited about this company! In short, Spindle checks the box on the three most important factors of early-stage investing: big market opportunity, seasoned management and strong technology platform with IP.
Market Opportunity
IE Market Research, a Canadian market intelligence and business strategy research and consulting firm, says the value of global mobile payment transactions (such as merchandise, digital products, ticketing, mobile money transfers, bill payments, and pre-paid top-ups) will reach nearly $1 Trillion by 2016. Yes, TRILLION! Another report from Forrester Research, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based research and advisory firm, forecasts that U.S. mobile payments will reach $90B in 2017, a 48% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from the $12.8B spent in 2012.
Spindle is already tapping into the international market through its partnership with Singapore-based Utiba, a leading global provider of mobile financial services solutions. In the deal, which was announced last October, Spindle will provide low-cost mobile acceptance technology and services to complement Utiba's Converging Payments solutions, which were borne out of a partnership with MasterCard (MA).
Net-net, the global mobile payment space Spindle competes in is absolutely gigantic and growing phenomenally quickly, so the opportunities are tremendous. Another one I'll quickly highlight is the company's deal with SLIDE, which was announced in November. As part of the agreement, Spindle will provide its secure payments infrastructure for the SLIDE offering that will get marketed in select MetroPCS (PCS) distributors. In my conversations with Spindle management, they said numerous other partnerships and joint ventures are in the pipeline, but they wouldn't get into specifics.
Management
There are only about a dozen people working at Spindle - remember, Instagram only had about 14 when it was acquired by Facebook (FB) last year for upwards of $1 Billion - and the handful of execs at Spindle have the background, experience and network to make this a high-growth company that's going to be a great acquisition target in the next six-24 months. In David Ide, the Executive Chairman, we have a mobile industry veteran who very successfully ran Augme Technologies (AUGT), a mobile marketing company, during which time the stock went from under a quarter a share to over $4 before he left to co-found Spindle. Bill Clark, Spindle's President, has more than 25 years in the payments industry, including 17 years at First Data Corporation and was responsible for $350MM in annual sales. And it recently brought Brian Voigt and John Tharpe over from Bank of America (BAC) Merchant Services (BAMS) to lead its Strategy and Business Development. Both guys have 20+ years of relevant experience. Voigt served as Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at BAMS where he was most recently focused on defining the mobile Point of Sale ("POS") and unattended industry (vending machines) strategies. He's also worked at First Data and Chase Paymentech (JPM) as a top revenue producer. Tharpe was also a former Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at BAMS, where he worked to establish BAMS' mobile wallet, third-party payment gateway, professional sports and mobile payments strategies. Tharpe was previously involved in building several successful payment companies including Official Payments Corp., TrustCommerce, and Global Payments. Finally, Kevin McNish, Spindle's VP of Product Development, has 15 years of experience in the information and electronic transaction processing industry. His background includes product management and new business development at First Data Merchant Services.
Technology Platform & Intellectual Property
Spindle has built a substantial technology platform and, according to its 10-K filed last March, the company "owns 4 patents and it has an additional 3 patents pending with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. In addition Spindle owns the right to royalty-free use of five issued patents and one pending application in the secure encryption, media, and document security space."
The company's portfolio includes a family of patents that are foundational to the methods used in networked payments - "Processing Payment on the Internet" (now pending with the USPTO) - and their "Financial Transaction System" (#5,822,737) family of patents, which discuss "an automated payment system particularly suited for purchases over a distributed computer network" have been referenced over 140 times by companies including PayPal, a business unit of eBay, Inc. (EBAY), Visa (V), Priceline.com (PCLN), AT&T (T), and First Data Corporation (FDC) as foundational to portions of their intellectual property portfolios.
Although Spindle is focused on building a business around its IP, the company has retained Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo P.C. to manage prosecution of the portfolio and the continuation of USP 5,822,737, which the company believes is foundational to electronic payments over a network of computers (including ecommerce and mcommerce payment processing), as the patent has a priority date of 1996.
Along with Mintz Levin, Spindle has engaged HLP Integration to evaluate the patent portfolio and explore opportunities to create layers of new IP as well as "monetization," which includes both licensing as well as litigation. I view any income from these efforts as "gravy," but in my conversations with management, it's clear this could be tens of millions of dollars. From what I gather, Mintz and HLP will be working together on Spindle's behalf while the management team focuses on the core payment processing business.
From a platform perspective, Spindle's Ide believes his company was the first PCI Level 1 Compliant company using Amazon's (AMZN) AWS cloud (Amazon EC2), and the company offers a secure, white label mobile wallet product with similar functionality as Google Wallet (GOOG) and PayPal Mobile. In case you're unfamiliar with mobile wallets, Mobile Commerce Daily calls them "the new credit card." If you're interested in learning more, I urge you to check out this piece from BusinessInsider, which uses an infographic to simplify the explanation.
Revenue Stage
My research indicates Spindle began generating revenue in Q4 last year, so I'm looking forward to getting details in its next quarterly filing. With a large and expanding market, robust technology platform and an experienced team with deep industry relationships, it wouldn't surprise me if these guys start putting up some pretty impressive numbers very quickly.
Conclusion
As I've written previously, my early-stage investing focus has evolved from exclusively private companies to predominantly public ones because of the disclosure and oversight that comes with investing in companies filing publicly with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) combined with the fact that there's a shorter time horizon for liquidity without sacrificing potential returns. And that's why I've made a pretty big financial bet on Spindle. I believe the shares offer significant upside potential to early investors over the next couple of years.
In summary, the combination of a large and fast-growing market combined with Spindle's solid management team and powerful technology platform (built by experienced payments industry veterans and backed by strong intellectual property) make this a very exciting investment opportunity and one worth serious consideration.
3 cent debt conversion!!!
18 million shares were issued at just 3 cents! What kind of company converts its debt at 3 cents when the stock is 70 cents?
Why have none of you mentioned how 18 million shares of debt converted at 3 cents! Not hard to imagine whose footing the bill for the huge promotion taking place and responsible for your fees.
From the 10k
http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/displayfilinginfo.aspx?FilingID=8513627-920-211285&type=sect&TabIndex=2&companyid=668312&ppu=%252fdefault.aspx%253fcik%253d1321573
"To this end, we have arranged with our note holders to convert $590,000 of our bridge notes, into 17,999,998 shares of our common stock."
Do the math people! 3 cents a share! No wonder someone paid $2.2 million to promote the stock! $590,000 is now worth $24 million. Why would anyone at the company even consider converting debt at just 3 cents while the stock is 70 cents give or take and they were raising money simultaneously at 50 cents in a private placement?
Question is who owned the debt. The filings indicate its owner sold it to another party, maybe in order to get it out of their name? Why would someone not want to be named as the debt holder?
You paid promoters are going to like these facts...
Why have none of you mentioned how 18 million shares of debt converted at 3 cents! Not hard to imagine whose footing the bill for the huge promotion taking place and responsible for your fees.
From the 10k
http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/displayfilinginfo.aspx?FilingID=8513627-920-211285&type=sect&TabIndex=2&companyid=668312&ppu=%252fdefault.aspx%253fcik%253d1321573
"To this end, we have arranged with our note holders to convert $590,000 of our bridge notes, into 17,999,998 shares of our common stock."
Do the math people! 3 cents a share! No wonder someone paid $2.2 million to promote the stock! $590,000 is now worth $24 million. Why would anyone at the company even consider converting debt at just 3 cents while the stock is 70 cents give or take and they were raising money simultaneously at 50 cents in a private placement?
Question is who owned the debt. The filings indicate its owner sold it to another party, maybe in order to get it out of their name? Why would someone not want to be named as the debt holder?
More to come...;)