This week, we continue our written interview with Steven Hafif of Cypris regarding his experiences building out a patent-focused marketplace and search engine. Please see below for Steve’s answers to my second and third questions regarding the value proposition Cypris offers for those interested in patent transactions, as well as how patents sourced from leading research universities play such an important part of Cypris’s offerings.
As always, I have presented Steve’s answers below along with some brief commentary of my own:
- Where are the opportunities for patent owners or prospective licensees to benefit from Cypris?
We operate with a hands-off model, as our objective is to provide tools that can help both sides of the marketplace without steering the connections or conversations in any way. With that objective in mind, we designed patent listings to fill a wide range of interests. Patent owners can publish every piece of information they believe will warrant a transaction, whether they’re interested in a sale, license agreement, or investment. In short, our patent listings provide that medium of communication that until now did not exist. For the buyer or licensee side of the market, Cypris is a tool that not only provides information on what’s available but gives context around the opportunity. You can investigate patent activity within extremely specific fields, then identify how you can get involved by enabling the listed filter on the very same page. If used correctly, Cypris can be a powerful instrument for moving into emerging markets and overall innovative growth.
GK: Both patent owners and prospective licensees have long bemoaned the lack of transparency in the patent market, as well as the barriers to widely communicating information about potential transaction opportunities. In some respects, Cypris is using technology to displace the traditional role of a patent broker, while also helping to bring to market opportunities to access patents from sources that have traditionally been more reserved in terms of allowing access to their portfolios. On the top of that list has long been research universities, which have to balance the desire of their inventors to license and commercialize their patented technologies with maintaining the interest of the university itself in maintaining control over how its patents are deployed.
- How will Cypris evolve as more universities and patent owners put listings online that lead to transactions?
Although Cypris’s functionality is currently strong, we still consider it to be what’s known in the startup world as our minimum viable product. Our goal with the first iteration of Cypris was to release the minimum tools needed to fulfill our overall objective, which is to facilitate connections. Part of that effort involved presenting patents in an informative way to Cypris’s users. When looking at the skeleton of a patent document, purely as an instrument for legal protection, it can be quite bare. What interests me is the information surrounding the abstract and claim. Who published the application, at what period in time, and why? Understanding the story behind a patent document can paint a vivid picture of an organization’s or individuals’ intentions within the innovative economy. Taking that organic information that exists within the USPTO, organizing it, and opening it up for user interaction, as a data analyst, is an extremely attractive endeavor and an important piece of Cypris’s value.
So far the response to the site has been great, even with our organic marketing approach. One of the benefits of having this much traction on our minimum viable product is that we get to build future functionality and upgrades based on active user feedback. We’re learning more from universities, organizations, and individuals who are interacting with our platform every day. We have some interesting tools in the pipeline that we plan to launch in the coming months. Some of those tools include: An advanced search engine, supportive analytics for patent owners who are hosting listings, and tools for patent-backed startups that are looking for venture funding. Our ambitions are bold and our technological capabilities are strong; we believe we’ll make some serious noise in the coming years.
GK: While Cypris’s main goal is to facilitate patent-based transactions, offering other patent-related tools represents a worthy contribution to the broader IP community. Many of the technology solutions around patents to date are focused on supporting IP litigation efforts, often at the expense of tools that are more focused on presenting information that can be used to facilitate investment and licensing transactions. Any headway Cypris can make on that front would be very helpful to IP owners, their counsel, and investors.
My thanks to Steve for the insights and cooperation, and I wish him and his startup continued success. It is always a privilege to hear from those brave enough to create tech-based companies around IP and I applaud Steve’s ability to execute on his vision in a relatively short amount of time. I am always open to conducting interviews of this type with other IP thought leaders, so feel free to reach out if you have a compelling perspective to offer.
Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.
Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique, and Markman Advisors LLC, a leading consultancy on patent issues for the investment community. Gaston’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.