The latest issue of IAM is now published and available to subscribers to read online. It’s our biggest ever issue, with 136 action-packed pages.

Highlights include our cover story, which takes a look at the claims that are made about NPEs by both their friends and foes, and seeks to separate fact from fiction. Not surprisingly, it turns out that there is a lot more of the latter than the former. They are not the devil’s spawn their detractors accuse them of being; but neither are they the unalloyed good-guys their advocates would have us believe. Whoever would have thought it?

Another big feature focuses on what may well be the world’s most successful NPE – at least as far as the investment community is concerned. Acacia Research has seen its market capitalisation rise from US$90 million to over US$1.7 billion in under four years. We interviewed the senior management team to find out how, and asked industry observers to tell us whether the success is sustainable over the long term. It could well be is their conclusion.

Don’t miss the results of our annual benchmarking survey either. We exclusively detail the highlights of the findings of this exercise, which we undertake with the IP Solutions business of Thomson Reuters each year. Close to 650 senior in-house and private practice IP professionals took part in 2012 and they gave us insights into their thinking on a range of cutting edge issues, ranging from the quality of patents being granted by the world’s leading issuing authorities to growing levels of corporate IP sophistication and the development of the IP marketplace.

Elsewhere you will find profiles of the six individuals who are this year’s inductees into the IP Hall of Fame, as well as articles that focus on Asia’s evolving patent funds and the viability of creating an IP transactions market in Europe. Look out, too, for an in-depth exploration of how the smartphone patent wars turned international. And there’s a lot more besides.

Subscribers can access the full PDF here.

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