My knowledge of patents, intellectual property, and patent law is modest. To be truthful, “non existent” is perhaps a better work. I did write for UK based publisher Infonortics a monograph based on Google’s patent applications and related technical papers. Much of the information in Google Version 2.0 is germane to the ad-focused, social-centric online powerhouse today (July 21, 2011).

What I recall from the 14 month effort was this:

Figuring out what a patent document is about was difficult.

When I labored on this 200 plus page discussion of Google’s “smart software” like the Programmable Search Engine (Dr. Ramanathan Guha) and the “dataspaces” concept crafted by Dr. Alon Halevy (acquired with Google’s little known purchase of Transformics in 2006), I had no easy way to get smart, agile help. Sure, my personal attorney contributed some insights, but I had no access to a global community of experts from whom to get guidance and insight.

If I were doing the Google Version 2.0 study today, I would turn to one of the most interesting patent research, intellectual property specialists, and litigation support services available on the Internet.

The company is Article One Partners (sometimes referenced in the media as “Article One” or “AOP”). You can get information about the firm at www.articleonepartners.com.

In less than three years, the firm has become the world’s largest online patent research community, and, according to many, Article One Partners has become the world’s largest patent research community. I would also assert that Article One Partners is the premier global crowdsourcing resource for patent expertise.

When I first learned about the company, I was impressed. I could use the Internet, fire a question to the Article One Partner experts, and get an answer or opinion back in a fraction of the time it had taken me to figure out what a particular claim implied.

Cheryl Milone, Esq., BSEE, Founder and CEO of Article One Partners

Prior to founding Article One Partners, Ms. Milone practiced as a patent attorney and advocated before the US PTO with Darby & Darby (until 2005), Clifford Chance and Kenyon & Kenyon.  Ms. Milone is also an inventor and patent holder – she is co-inventor of US Patent No 6,074,339, Gambale et al entitled “Expandable Braid Device and Method for Radiation Treatment,”.  She earned her JD in 1992 from Georgetown University Law Center and holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.

The Interview

The full text of my interview with Ms. Milone appears below:

How has the present business climate affected the value of intellectual property?

Great question. Intellectual property is now a fully recognized and distinctive asset class.  Patents are at their highest value in history. The $4.5 billion purchase price of the Nortel patent portfolio is one example. Even local television channels are now referencing much of the high profile patent litigation. Media interest in intellectual property continues to increase.

You firm has gathered a large number of experts in different disciplines but the community of experts is united by their knowledge of patents, intellectual property, and related disciplines. What’s the reason for this approach?

In order to understand a patent or the implications of one of the issues related to a patent matter, legal expertise is definitely essential. However, there are needs for other types of expertise as well.

Can you give me an example?

Sure, there is the engineering or technical aspect of a patent. There are financial and business issues. There are risk factors that must be considered and evaluated.

In Manhattan, it is possible to locate the expertise needed to tackle a patent matter. However, if one lives in a smaller city, expertise may not be a couple of blocks or a taxi ride away.

We tapped the social capabilities of the Internet and assembled an unrivaled, world class team of experts in law and the necessary disciplines to provide the advice, counsel, opinions, and facts our clients require.

With our crowdsourcing platform, we can tap the expertise a client requires in a fast, secure, and agile way. Distance is not a factor. Reaction time is accelerated.

Clients get what they need at a cost usually offering a significant savings over flying people in or traveling to where an expert is working.

What is the technology behind Article One’s crowdsourcing?

We have technology of which I am quite proud. I’m sure that you can appreciate, however, that I don’t want to reveal all of our proprietary systems and methods.

Now you sound like a Google patent document?

[Chuckles] I apologize. We have invested significant amounts in creating our secure, high speed system.

In a nutshell, we have a state of the art, highly reliable, scalable human-powered search engine. We use a Web 2.0 technology platform which shares some of the features of a Google-type or Amazon-type approach.

How does an AOP client tap your expert network?

We have made it easy for our clients. We have made it easy for our experts. AOP posts searches and our experts look at the requests and respond. One key point is the speed with which the posts go up and the inputs come back from our experts.

Are the experts English speakers?

Most are, but we post the requests for information in eight languages. This is one of several unique, distinguishing features of the Article One Partners’ prior art search method. When the experts respond, we have a proprietary content processing method that runs on our AOP global technology platform.

Once the content processing is complete, the client has access to the evidence, opinions, and other inputs provided.

What are the business risks if a company fumbles the patent ball?

The risks to a business are significant.

The present business climate has raised the stakes in what historically has already been a very high stakes game. Obviously a company can be sued and have to pay very sizable damages. The loss in research and development  investment is another risk.

Why can’t an individual who is quite intelligence armed with a civil engineering degree do patent research directly using the USPTO or Pat2PDF.org?

There are certainly many services available, and we respect these fine organizations and their services. However, these databases are based on English language, digitized documents, but prior art can exist in any language and in any form. Thus, for example, traditional searches often miss all but the abstracts of foreign language articles. They also miss non-digitized sections of documents, such as tables and graphics.

The issue becomes one of completeness. Then there is the issue of getting the pertinent evidence, analyses, and inputs pertinent to a particular situation or patent matter.

What are the reasons Article One can add a turbo boost to a company’s patent research or litigation team?

Client satisfaction is one key reason. More than 90 percent of our clients say they will work with us again, and they recommend us to others. Appreciate that these are sophisticated clients addressing complex matters. Our clients have high standards and expectation.

Are you able to identify some of your clients?

We serve about 45 percent of the top 100 non practicing entity or NPE targets. For example, we have had a large number of high profile clients who tell us, in fact, that AOP finds evidence the clients cannot find even with a large internal existing team of in house prior art researchers.

Are there other factors that contribute to your high client satisfaction?

Our firm also benefits from the expertise of another co founder, Steven B. Powell, Esq. Prior to developing this innovative crowdsourcing approach to patent research, patent analysis, and litigation support, he was a managing director at Citi Group (financial services), an executive director at Morgan Stanley, and chief executive officer at Interacciones Global (an investment advisory firm).

What’s his background?

Good question. [Smiles] Mr. Powell graduated from Harvard, and he has deep background in law and international business.

What are the key attributes you want me to associate with Article One?

There are several but speed, quality, and excellence are hallmarks of Article One Partners.  It is important to us that we set the blue chip standard for excellence in all that we do.

Net Net

If you want more information about Article One Partners, navigate to the firm’s Web site at www.articleoneparters.com.

The HighGainBlog’s view is that investors, entrepreneurs, and innovators will want to take a critical look at their intellectual property and consider tapping the knowledge resources of AOP.

The answer to the question, “Are Patents and Intellectual Property the Next Gold Rush?” strikes me as a resounding, “Yes.”

Stephen E Arnold, July 25, 2011

Sponsored by Quasar Capital Advisors, a next generation financial services firm.