There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday on how some banks are coping with the foreclosure problem (As Loans Dry Up, Builders Work for Banks). According to the article, some banks are hiring construction companies to complete building projects which the banks have taken over. The arrangement benefits both parties. While the contractor doesn't get any profits from the houses as they would have if it was their own project, they do earn a flat fee and can keep their crews employed. The banks realize a higher recovery rate on the defaulted loans as the properties are more valuable as competed houses rather than as half-built structures or as vacant land.
Might not this be a model for companies in R&D as well? As I noted earlier, already the US Department of Energy (DOE) urges companies to sign over IP as collateral as part of its clean energy production loans so that DOE can step in and finish the project in case of default. Might not there be a role of for a research company to be paid to finish the project development - so that the bank can reap more value than simply auctioning off the IP?
There might be a somewhat similar model already out there. In our report, Maximizing Intellectual Property and Intangible Assets: Case Studies in Intangible Asset Finance, we mentioned that Deutsche Bank is currently managing IP funds with the goal of further refining the commercial potential of the technologies so that they can be sold and/or licensed in the future. While this is not exactly the same, it does provide a possible pathway for banks to take to realize higher value on IP that ends up under their control.
I know this would be a stretch for most banks. It is one thing for a bank to take control of a building project -- something that they understand. And even it that case, it seems that this model is being used by those financial institutes which specialize in real estate, such as the case of Housing Capital Co. cited in the article. But surely there are some IP savvy lenders out there who might want to explore the idea.
Might not this be a model for companies in R&D as well? As I noted earlier, already the US Department of Energy (DOE) urges companies to sign over IP as collateral as part of its clean energy production loans so that DOE can step in and finish the project in case of default. Might not there be a role of for a research company to be paid to finish the project development - so that the bank can reap more value than simply auctioning off the IP?
There might be a somewhat similar model already out there. In our report, Maximizing Intellectual Property and Intangible Assets: Case Studies in Intangible Asset Finance, we mentioned that Deutsche Bank is currently managing IP funds with the goal of further refining the commercial potential of the technologies so that they can be sold and/or licensed in the future. While this is not exactly the same, it does provide a possible pathway for banks to take to realize higher value on IP that ends up under their control.
I know this would be a stretch for most banks. It is one thing for a bank to take control of a building project -- something that they understand. And even it that case, it seems that this model is being used by those financial institutes which specialize in real estate, such as the case of Housing Capital Co. cited in the article. But surely there are some IP savvy lenders out there who might want to explore the idea.
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