The States have launched a full scale attack against intellectual property holding companies. Dozens of cases are in litigation across the country, and widely varying results have been reported from State to State. While the States challenge the tax benefits, the courts have challenged the ability of an IP holding company to recover “lost profit” damages. This panel explored using a Holding Company to preserve its tax status as well as operating one to retain the ability to recover “lost profit” damages for infringement including:
- How should an IP holding company be structured to be in the best position to retain its tax and other business advantages?
- How can you preserve deductions for royalties paid to an IP holding company by its affiliated group of operating companies?
- Should you change the way your IP holding company operates in light of the Poly-America decision?
- Are the benefits of an intellectual property holding corporation outweighed by the limitations placed on a holding company in seeking a damage award in a patent litigation?
Panelists for this session included: Alexander Arato, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, CA, Inc.; Barry Grossman, Partner, Foley; Jamshed Patel, Partner, Foley; Bloor Redding, Former Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Hewlett-Packard Company; and J. Bruce Schelkopf, Chief Counsel, Global Intellectual Property, Cummins Inc.