Nov. 18, 2009 (PR Newswire) -- NEW YORK, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- One year ago today, Article One Partners launched with a simple goal - to legitimize the validity of patents using a global human search engine. The Company was convinced that applying a crowdsourcing model to the patent industry would enhance traditional search methods. A year later, after amassing an extraordinary client base of Fortune 100 companies and top international law firms, www.ArticleOnePartners.com has become the largest patent validation firm in the world.
It has been a fast-paced year of growth and success for Article One. Foremost among these was the discovery in March of patent invalidity evidence related to the branded asthma drug Singulair, a Merck product and one of the ten largest drugs in the world. Based on Article One's discovery, which had not been unearthed in years of prior litigation with a generic drug company, the U.S. Patent Office recommended that 15 months be shaved from the Singulair patent term, which could result in an estimated savings to the public of some $1 billion.
A crucial component of Article One Partners' success is its global community, reaching 3 million researchers and technologists who search for prior art in exchange for monetary rewards posted on the web site. The number of Advisors who have provided their academic background show 57% having advanced science or technology degrees. Article One has also implemented an innovative "crowdsharing" component whereby the company distributes approximately 5% of its net profits to its Advisors.
Article One Partners has uncovered critical new intellectual property evidence in many different industries. The impact has been to provide this fundamental information to industry, for a more efficient allocation of resources to research and development, rather than patent litigation. In all cases, the results have served to bolster the accuracy and effectiveness of the underlying patent industry.
In its first year, the Article One Partners global community has evaluated more than 45 Patents and submitted more than 5,500 examples of prior art evidence. The results have produced new prior art that was previously unidentified by the parties involved in corresponding litigation - despite having dedicated teams backed by the global resources of the world's most powerful brands.
"Our model is unique," explained Cheryl Milone, founder and CEO of Article One Partners. "It enables Article One to uncover prior art in a way that no traditional search method can. By applying a reward-based, pull technology search, we identify prior art evidence in all languages, not just English, and of all types, not just those contained in traditional resources. That is one of the reasons for our rapid growth and dramatic hit rate of successful searches."
Highlights of Article One Partners first year include:
-- 2009 Startup of the Year - Silicon Alley Insider Grand Prize Winner from
more than 150 company competitors during Internet Week NY in June,
hosted at the New York Stern School of Business, NYU
-- "Cool Vendor in Intellectual Property 2009" - Recognition from the
world's largest information technology analyst firm
-- "Top Ten" Company at the prestigious DEMOfall 2009 Conference in San
Diego in September, from among 70 presenting companies (as chosen by the
Conference sponsor VentureBeat)
-- PBS described the company as "Revolutionizing" the patent industry
"We set out to build a truly global patent reform community," explained Milone. "We incentivize our Advisors to search for prior art in cases involving some of the biggest IP disputes in the legal, scientific and technology sectors. As we look back over our first year, it's thrilling to see that our research Studies now reach some 3 million experts worldwide. And now when we launch a new Patent Study, our community begins to submit responses within hours. Perhaps most importantly, the quality of responses we are achieving is far higher than that attained through traditional search, which often required whole teams of legal experts laboring over many months. In contrast, our results are swift, far reaching, more thorough and thus more valuable."
With Article One Partners, the World is Searching
Article One Partners launched 45 Patent Studies in its first year, with the community finding invalidating prior art in more than 30 percent of the Studies (verified by clients and outside counsel). Some Studies also have identified evidence to strengthen pending patent applications, with clients using our collection to submit to the U.S. Patent Office. See the results online at: http://www.articleonepartners.com/patent_study_results.php
In total, the first year led to 14 "winning submission" payments to Article One Advisors, who were awarded $10,000 to $50,000 U.S. each for discovering prior art. Winners range from a professional in Columbia, South America, to a U.S. aerospace engineer--with the top-earning Advisor having won $95,000 dollars to date. Evidence submitted by the community has included traditional prior art, such as earlier patents, research papers and magazine articles, as well as highly-creative submissions including decades old web pages, non-digitized publications, novels and sealed placards.
Article One Patent Studies Impact Key Industry Patents
Among the 45 Patent Studies launched in Article One Partners' first year, highlights of the results achieved include:
-- A key stored value card patent described as widely licensed to
universities and industry and asserted against Informed Decisions Corp.
Article One uncovered two separate prior art references under "102
anticipation" to invalidity. The collection has driven settlement of the
litigation.
-- Merck's U.S. Singulair® patent. Article One discovered critical new
prior art, including more than six new references that were uncovered
and are not in the public trial record (Merck v. Teva). The U.S. Patent
Office granted a reexamination request based on Article One's results.
The Patent Office issued a first office action finding the patent claims
obvious for double patenting and requesting that the patentee file a
terminal disclaimer to reduce the term of the Singulair patent.
-- A Worlds.com virtual worlds patent threatened against the industry. This
Study is exemplary of Advisors who respond with prior art that they
themselves have authored.
-- Minerva cell phone patent describes add on features of cell phones,
widely asserted against the industry.
About Article One Partners
Article One Partners is a global online community that legitimizes the validity of patents. Community members - our Advisors - have an opportunity to send in previously undisclosed evidence of patent validity. Clients can sponsor research to assist in patent litigation, to strengthen pending patents and to resolve other crucial patent validity issues. Advisors can earn up to $50,000 per research project and share in about five percent (5%) of Article One's net annual profit. The result is a highly-rewarded community that provides a citizen's review of patent validity. This review justifies the monopoly pricing that patents confer upon their owners, and serves to energize U.S. patent reform. To learn more about Article One, or to become a member of our community, please visit www.ArticleOnePartners.com .
Article One Partners and AOP are service marks of Article One Partners, LLC. All other product and company names are the trademarks and property of their respective owners.
© 2009. Article One Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.
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