IP Assets – Centerpiece of M&A Strategy?

Traditionally, the acquisition of IP assets in the context of M&A transactions was more of an after-thought than anything else – M&A has often been thought of more as a vehicle to increase earnings per share, to capture new market channels, or to add new tangible products to existing product lines.  If any useful IP came along with the deal, it was usually more of a happenstance than the result of strategic planning.  However, as IP assets increase in value from both a defensive and assertive standpoint, a growing trend in M&A activity is to focus more on analyzing and capturing the value that such assets may provide as part of an overall deal – or even perhaps, to do a deal just for the purpose of acquiring IP assets.

An interesting note on The Deal (www.thedeal.com) points out that Research in Motion Ltd. (famous for its patent infringement litigation with NTP) recently announced in its periodic financial filings that in the first quarter of 2008, it had acquired $310M worth of “intangible assets.”  What these assets are (or were) is unclear; but the article suggests that as RIMM is “so intellectual-property driven,” these assets may be indeed of the IP ilk.  The note may be found at http://www.thedeal.com/corporatedealmaker/2008/04/rim_310_million_purchase_of_in.php.