GIS is continually improving its reverse engineering capabilities in order to keep up with emerging technologies. Particularly, with ever developing IC (Integrated Circuit) technology today’s ICs can have more than ten layers of metallization and the interlayer dielectric thickness is continually decreasing. This makes it more difficult to delayer ICs for purposes of extracting circuits within the ICs. Particularly, in order to extract the circuits each layer of metallization needs to be exposed so that signal traces and connections between circuit elements can be identified. The need for a delayering process where each layer is exposed in a planar fashion becomes more important and more difficult with decreasing interlayer thickness of the dielectric material. GIS has been improving its delayering processes in order to meet this challenge. The processes uses a combination of polishing, wet chemical etching, and dry chemical etching.

Figure 1 below show an optical image of M5 (Metal 5) of an IC.

Figure 1: Optical image of M5 of an IC

The process is sufficiently planar to show all signal traces across the image of Figure 1. The SEM images in Figures 2 and 3 below show the metal traces of M5 after some dielectric material has been removed. The images show well controlled removal of dielectric material, which allows for a planar delayering process.

Figure 2: SEM image of a portion of M5

Figure 3: SEM image of cross-section of IC with M5 exposed

GIS’ continued R&D efforts provide us with the ability to push the limits on our capabilities and respond to an increasing demand to provide highly specialized expertise as shown above for the case of delayering, for example.

GIS continues to build upon our areas of expertise. Just recently we added technical expertise in the area of Internet security/encryption as well as expanded our expertise in firmware and software analysis. Our areas of technical capabilities includes, but not limited to: Semiconductors, Semiconductor Processes, Video and Imaging Systems, Software, Mobile/Wireless, Consumer Electronics, etc. Contact us at sales@gistrategies.com for more information.

By Marek Wernik, President & CEO

On the occasion of LES World IP day, GIS and Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP organized and hosted in Ottawa a panel discussion on Novel Business Models for Building and Managing Strategic Patent Assets. With participation from MOSAID, NRC (National Research Council Canada), Gowlings and GIS, the panel represented patent buyers, sellers and companies that help both sides to reach a proper deal by conducting patent due-diligence. The audience of IP professionals from technology companies and law firms across the city was engaged in a long and lively discussion and challenged the panelists with questions and opinions demonstrating how important this topic has become for the IP industry and for our active Ottawa IP community in particular.

As the moderator for this session, I would like to take this opportunity to summarize the discussion and invite the readers of this newsletter to continue exchanging views on this topic in our Blog.

We are entering the age when IP becomes an engine of economical and political influence. In the last decade, for most developed countries, the contribution of IP-intensive industries to GDP started approaching the contribution of the resource-intensive industries. For example, according to the US Chamber of Commerce the U.S. intellectual property companies generated nearly $7.7 trillion in gross output, accounting for more than 33% of total GDP in 2008. IP-intensive industries account for approximately 60% of total U.S. exports, rising from $665 billion in 2000 to $910 billion in 2007.

With such a shift in value distribution, the attention of governments and private sector shifts towards protecting, acquiring and trading these IP assets. Patent monetization, which was the subject of this panel, takes the center of attention of the IP industry.

Some of the take-aways from the panel discussion are summarized below:

• Patent due-diligence becomes increasingly important for identification of valuable assets. Patent buyers will perform rigorous analysis to determine the strength of the patent themselves and will engage trusted 3rd parties who have technical and legal expertise to support them in this process.
• Patent sellers must do their homework to understand the market for their IP assets and identify the potential buyers, licensors, and infringers. They will have to determine current and forecast future revenue opportunities for their IP assets, find the range of royalty rates, and be aware of the buyers’ strategies.
• The value of patents is determined by several factors, but the factor which becomes of particular importance is whether or not the patents have already been infringed upon or licensed. The buyers are expecting that this information is included in the sellers’ packages.
• Several new business models are being explored to increase the success factors for patent portfolio monetization, such as: risk/opportunity sharing between buyers and sellers, outsourcing/funding R&D in return for the IP rights to the inventions and establishing in-house directed R&D by companies who otherwise were Non-Practicing Entities.

Many more questions were raised, which we did not have enough time to explore:

• The patent monetization market has been growing in North America in recent years. Is this becoming a global trend?  
• What level of due-diligence should the sellers perform on their patents to demonstrate value to potential buyers?
• What is the assessment of open auctions? Are they effective mechanisms for selling and buying the patents?
• Will research institutions and academia play an increased role in patent monetization market as patent sellers? What changes in their structure would have to be implemented to facilitate such an increased role?
• How might recent decisions by the US courts regarding calculation of damages in patent litigations affect the business of selling and buying patents? Which recent case law which might have significant impact on the patent monetization market?
• Will patent reform contemplated by the US Senate and the House have a long-term impact on the patent monetization market?

We invite our readers to share with us their views and to watch our website for upcoming opinions on important IP issues.