So far, throughout this series, we’ve established the IBM revolutionized the way corporations monetize their patents by filing for them by the tens of thousands. Of course, we also know that filing and maintaining a single patent family can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of those patents.

With summer upon us, it’s a good time to get refreshed. Perhaps some water balloons? Make sure they’re Bunch O Balloons, who were ruled to have exclusive rights to their patent. But that should be obvious, shouldn’t it? We’ll help you decide.

Who would steal Christmas presents from your front porch? Amazon is working on a solution that will give you—and the police—the answer. Also going on in the world: fewer lawsuits and clearer patent legislation. Read on to see the good that is coming to the world of IP.

In our last Penny Wise and Pound Foolish article, we investigated corporations that spent years building massive patent portfolios for the purpose of licensing programs. IBM led the way through the nineties, eventually amassing over 22,000 patents within the decade. Of course, with up to $1 billion in revenue each year solely from licensing deals, IBM definitely makes a case for piling up the patents like poker chips.

Is more always better? A case could be made that it is. Love. Money. Patience. Peace. Patents?

The news of Apple and Qualcomm laying down their swords is the big news in the world of IP, as the technology giant concedes the recognition of Qualcomm’s advances. The decision affects more than just those two companies. And more optimism is found in PayPal’s patent that could do a great deal to keep their customer’s accounts safe.

This is a really cool story. We’ll let you know that up front because there are some things we can’t tell you. We can’t tell you the names of some of the characters in the story, like the Venture Capital Fund (we’ll just call him VC, okay?) and the Innovator. We can’t tell you the innovation or patent numbers. You may have a hard time getting invested in a story when you don’t know the names of the characters, but we promise the story is still so cool that you’ll be hanging on all the way to the end.

Some cool new patents emerged this month, but the real news seems to be on the legal side, with a new Chief Judge for the PTAB named and more news from the Apple/Qualcomm lawsuits. Let’s take a look.

Welcome to March, otherwise known as Women’s History Month. As we celebrate what women have done here in America, we’re also taking note of what women are doing in the world of IP. In the meantime, Apple continues to blaze the trail in the simplification of unlocking smart devices.

Over the course of twenty years, the list of the 10 largest companies has changed drastically due to the value of intangible assets, such as intellectual property.  Where once companies like ExxonMobil, General Electric, and Walmart reigned supreme, we now see companies like Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet (Google) at the top of the charts.  More than 84% of the S&P 500’s market cap is represented by intangible assets. That’s equal to more than $19 trillion.