The final presenter is Thomas Ward of the University of Maine Law School. Capital markets are changing; the emphasis on venture capital for innovative activity is declining. Personal property financing was once viewed the way IP financing is viewed now. In the past, managers were reluctant to use debt financing for innovation because of risk-aversion, difficulty in assessing devaluation of the asset, the preference for physical assets among secured lenders, and uncertain risks associated with potential bankruptcy. This is changing because as the patent system has improved, the ability of a patent to serve a signaling function has improved; patent valuation standards and secondary markets have developed; securitization is easier in a patent pool context where valuation is relatively clear; the revised Article 9 to the UCC is increasingly being applied to IP, making the securitization process easier and more certain and establishing a priority scheme. But how can the traditional IP system and open source avoid collision?
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