Law firms retain CRA for expert testimony and analysis in IP-related litigation. Courts increasingly require rigorous economic analysis in the determination of damages awards. CRA’s industry knowledge and expertise in economics, finance, accounting, and business strategy make us uniquely qualified to understand and convey the value and impact of proprietary rights in the marketplace. With our ability to prepare, communicate, and defend well-supported positions based on comprehensive analysis, CRA provides our clients with the depth and breadth of skills that the IP litigation environment demands.

Over the past two decades, CRA has performed thousands of IP and intangible asset valuations for strategic, tax, financial reporting, and litigation purposes. Our valuations are presented in a manner most appropriate to our clients’ audience and goal. Corporations, law firms, and debt and equity holders, turn to CRA’s experts when they require IP valuation models to support business decisions as well as IP valuation reports and testimony that can meet regulatory or court scrutiny.

CRA has conducted IP valuation in a wide variety of contexts, including:

• Mergers and acquisitions
• Licensing transactions
• IP sales/acquisitions
• Joint ventures
• Spin-outs
• Transfer pricing
• In-process R&D
• Bankruptcy/restructuring
• Purchase price allocations (ASC 805)
• Goodwill impairment testing  (ASC 350)

CRA provides business and financial-advisory services to help clients execute IP licensing programs and other IP-rich transactions. Our consultants have a broad range of hands-on transactional experience developed both at CRA and in prior managerial positions in industry, government, and academia, and we’ve developed a deep understanding of licensing practices and structures in multiple industries and contexts. We assist at all stages of the transactional process, from strategy development to identifying and evaluating licensing opportunities, to ongoing negotiations.

CRA provides top management, investors, and boards with objective, fact-based advice regarding IP strategy, risks, and opportunities. CRA also assists with the identification and implementation of both internally- and externally-focused IP management strategies and processes.

Strategy audit and development
CRA conducts independent, objective assessment to determine whether a company’s IP portfolio, strategy, processes, and risk management are aligned with overall corporate strategy:

• IP portfolio strength/strategic relevance analysis
• Competitive benchmarking
• IP process review
• IP risk assessment
• Development of IP strategic plan

Implementation of internally-focused Initiatives
CRA ensures that strategic IP plans address the creation and development of an IP portfolio, the efficient management of the portfolio, and the optimal deployment of an organization’s IP assets using IP best practices. To ensure optimal return from IP assets, CRA develops and implements initiatives such as:

• Acquire v. develop analyses
• Strategic patenting process
• IP management metrics, measurement, and benchmarking
• IP database management systems
• Leveraging IP across business units
• IP management and holding companies

Implementation of externally-focused Initiatives
CRA leverages IP valuation, transaction, intelligence, and litigation experience to develop and execute external IP strategies that maximize stakeholder value through:

• Portfolio mining and opportunity identification
• Enforcement licensing strategy and valuation
• Opportunity licensing strategy and execution
• In-licensing and acquisition strategy and valuation
• JV/partnering strategies
• Licensing compliance and royalty audits
• IP litigation risk analyses

CRA’s consultants apply decades of experience and the latest IP and business intelligence tools to transform raw, disaggregated data into actionable information that corporations use to make critical business decisions. Our experts help clients analyze:

• Technology/IP “gaps” in strategic markets
• Competitors’ technology positions and strategies
• Targets for potential licensing/JV/M&A transactions
• R&D investment strategies
• Early-stage strategic M&A IP due diligence
• Technology trajectories
• IP transactions
• IP litigation risk
• IP benchmarking and portfolio
• Licensing and cross-licensing transactions

Our Intellectual Property experts possess deep, specific knowledge of data sources, facts, and institutions in almost every major industry, including, but not limited to, airline, automobile, banking, computer hardware and software, consumer products, durable products, credit card and credit card security, energy, health care, heavy manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, retail, real estate, telecommunications, and various utilities.