San Francisco-based RPX, a patent risk management firm with a presence in Seattle, filed an S-1 document with the SEC on Friday that says it intends to sell up to $100 million worth of shares in an initial public offering. Goldman Sachs, Barclays Capital, and others are underwriting the IPO. RPX says it has 70 corporate clients and has spent more than $250 million to acquire intellectual property assets. It reported a $10 million profit for the first nine months of 2010, on revenues of $65.2 million. The company was co-founded in 2008 by former Intellectual Ventures vice presidents John Amster and Geoffrey Barker. Last year, Amster spoke with me about RPX’s approach and recent trends in the patents business.
Author: Gregory T. Huang
Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003.
Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
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