Assaf Thon

Background

About Assaf Thon

There are more than 14 million patents worldwide and over 3 million new patent applications submitted each year. Internet and Communications Technologies (ICT), including 5G Mobile communications, Internet of Things (IOT) and Autonomous Cars are amongst the most active fields in patents. These technologies are regulated by standards, which in turn are frequently protected by patents. There are close to standards covering ICT technologies and products, mostly issued by the European Technical Standards Institute (ETSI), with more than new standards issued every year. A patent that protects technology essential to a specific standard is called a Standard-Essential Patent. It is impossible to manufacture standard-compliant products without using technologies covered by one or more SEPs. These are most valuable patents in ICT. Globally, SEP licensees are paying over USD 20 billion each year in royalties to SEP owners. Because of their high value, SEP patents are highly litigated. Disputes are mostly around: a. Validity: are there earlier patents protecting the same invention (prior art) b. Essentiality/Infringement: does the patent in litigation actually protect a specific standard essential technology it claims to protect. Recent studies show that more than 80% of all SEP patents are not valid, neither essential. Patent owners, technology licensees, patent litigators, litigation funders, courts, regulators and governmental agencies, are all in a need for a tool to assess the validity and essentiality of patents. However, given today’s available technologies, it is not possible to check the validity, neither the essentiality of patents at scale. In PatX, using Natural Language Processing and AI algorithms, we develop and market solutions to evaluate Validity and Essentiality of Standard Essential Patents (SEP). Located in Haifa, Israel, PatX is a member company of the DRIVE accelerator at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, from which we received a pre-seed investment. PatX is developing a SaaS service with a subscription business model.