Allied Security Trust

Allied Security Trust (AST) is an independent, not-for-profit cooperative that provides its Members with a highly efficient, cost-effective method of mitigating the risk of patent assertions and litigation by enabling Members to secure patent rights by collectively purchasing assets available on the open market.

Business

Members each contribute to the operating expense of the trust, and hold funds in escrow for the purchase of patents. Each member's escrow funds are used for the purchase of only those patents that they are interested in.[1] The members involved in the purchase are then licensed to the patents. After a certain period of time, the patents are sold or donated. This is known as a catch and release strategy. AST does not litigate.[2]

Turning to the key function of buy-side decision making – i.e., determining which patents to purchase – AST radiates out such authority to the extremities of the organization, where individual members decide whether to ante up funds on a case-by-case basis. The offices of the AST then serves to aggregate these funds and formulate a bid.

What is interesting about these fundamentally different processes is that, at least in theory, the AST process potentially taps into an intellectual wherewithal unrivaled in the market (think of the hundreds of senior engineers at each of the AST members – that suggests some 2,000 highly skilled engineers in all).

AST's approach attempts to help companies before adversarial patent litigation may occur.

Members

Allied Security Trust public members in 2018, include

Executives
  • Russell Binns, Jr., CEO [3]
  • Kerry Hopkin, CFO[3]
  • Ray Strimaitis, VP, Corporate Development & Global Strategy
  • Mihir Patel, VP, Technology

See also

References
  1. "Scott Moritz, "Big Tech gets Legal Aid in the Patent Wars"". Money.cnn.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  2. "Joff Wild, IAM Magazine, "Why Sinking Markets Could Mean Real Opportunities for Patent Acquirers and Licensees", October 7, 2008". Iam-magazine.com. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  3. "Homepage - Allied Security Trust". Allied Security Trust. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
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