No. We believe paying NPEs “feeds the beast” and incentivizes further NPE activity.

Unified occasionally purchases patents that pose a risk to a Zone before they are acquired by an NPE. When doing so, all Zone members receive immediate perpetual licenses before the patent is sold or donated. Unified does not purchase patents or licenses from NPEs. We believe such activities “feed the beast” and incentivize further NPE activity.

Unified was founded by the CEO, Kevin Jakel, in the Summer of 2012 before being joined by co-founder Brian Hinman a few months later. Unified signed its first member in January of 2013.

Unified uses the subscription fees collected for each Zone to provide a wide range of services. Unified conducts patent analytics and provides those analytics to subscribed members. Unified also monitors ownership data, secondary-market patent sales, demand letters, and litigation to track any NPE activity and NPE risks in the Zone.

Unified is a membership organization created to help companies counter the costs and risks of NPE activity in key technologies or industries, called Zones. Like a trade association, members of Unified subscribe to a Zone for a small annual subscription fee based on company size.

Unified’s decision to file an IPR is based on various factors including, but not limited to:
(1) assessed validity of the patent,
(2) litigation strategy of the patent owner,
(3) notoriety of any NPE involved, and
(4) expected deterrence value to the Zone.

None. Unified retains sole and absolute discretion regarding all aspects of an IPR.
This includes:
(1) finding the prior art,
(2) conducting the invalidity analysis,
(3) deciding whether to file,
(4) preparing the petition, and
(5) prosecuting the IPR once filed.

Unified Patents objective is to deter invalid NPE assertions in technology areas companies care the most about.

Management owns 100% of Unified. Members have no ownership interest of any kind in Unified.

Yes. Should Unified determine that its goals can be better served by terminating an IPR, Unified can settle an IPR so long as all members of a relevant Zone no longer have assertion risk.