Art Monk first cultivated his appreciation of intellectual property in the research labs and computer centres of the University of Manitoba and the University of Alberta, in diverse projects involving optical and electron microscopy and the study of fast enzyme reactions in metabolic pathways. During these pursuits, he amassed considerable experience in computer simulation and modelling while building a healthy interest in the commercialisation of intellectual property.

Mr Monk moved to Silicon Valley, where he assumed various marketing and product management roles in leading technology companies and start-up ventures. At HP, he facilitated the creation of the company’s value-added reseller channel, which allows developers to add their software and hardware-based intellectual property to HP’s computer platforms. At ROLM Corporation, he rose to the level of group product manager, overseeing 80% of the company’s telecommunications switching products.

Mr Monk has actively participated in new venture formation and angel investor forums, and was co-founder of the High- Performance Computing Centre serving the seismic data processing and academic research communities in Canada. With this experience, Mr Monk has been called on to advise start-ups, investors and government agencies on the commercialisation of technology and the monetisation of intellectual property.

He has invented a number of novel approaches to the understanding of patent portfolio characteristics based on US Patent and Trademark Office sub-class histograms and sub-class overlap comparison algorithms. He has also contributed to the understanding of balanced and unbalanced patent counterassertion through models that describe negotiating positions between adverse parties.

Mr Monk’s expertise resides in patent brokerage, having led and closed patent portfolio divestment and acquisition transactions for both sell-side and buy-side clients. He has a wealth of experience in patent analytics, computer simulation, financial modelling, computer systems and wireless communications.

Mr Monk holds a BSc (with honours) in physics and an MSc in biophysics from the University of Manitoba. He holds an MBA in operations research from the University of Alberta, where he also dedicated time towards postgraduate research in solid state physics.