IV announces construction joint venture

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

IV announces construction joint venture

Intellectual Ventures (IV) has formed a joint venture with CollinsWoerman to commercialise new inventions for the design and construction of mid-rise and high-rise housing from a kit of prefabricated component parts

intellectual20ventures20logo.jpg

The joint venture will be called Innovative Building Technologies (IBT) and will be based in Seattle.

The joint venture is through IV’s Invention Development Fund. The firm said the aim is to develop the intellectual property portfolio supporting a group of inventions related to IBT’s prefabricated component parts building technology and to commercialise the inventions for global markets.

IBT will be the owner of the related patent portfolio and CollinsWoerman and its Sustainable Living Innovations affiliate will have an exclusive licence to deploy the technology in the North American market.

Innovative Building Technologies will find global licensees for the technology in other markets such as China, Japan, and Vietnam.

The first building using the IBT technology is underway in the University District in Seattle, with completion scheduled for year-end. Additional projects are in the advanced stages of planning in San Francisco, Alaska, North Dakota and other locations.

IV has been keen to stress that its inventions and patents are being turned into products, in contrast to its reputation as a patent troll.

In August, the firm revealed that it was reducing its 700 staff by 19%, or 140 people. This followed smaller layoffs of 5% of its staff in February this year.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Paul Hastings and Smart & Biggar also won multiple awards, while Baker McKenzie picked up a significant prize
Burford Capital study finds that in-house lawyers have become more likely to monetise patents, but that their IP portfolios are still underutilised
Robert Reading and Faidon Zisis at Clarivate unpick some of the data surrounding music-related trademarks
China's latest IP litigation statistics and a high-profile hire by O'Melveny were also among the top talking points this week
David Aylen, who spent more than 20 years at Gowling WLG, has joined United Trademark and Patent Services as of counsel in the UAE
Europe is among the most lucrative legal markets for PE firms to bet on, but clients’ reactions will decide whether external investment drives success
Rulings of note covered pre-June 2023 infringements and jurisdiction over non-UPC states, while winners of Managing IP’s EMEA Awards acted in multiple cases
Jason Blair, a former special marks examiner, said Dykema’s Texas presence will help him build deeper connections with clients
Lee Curtis and Rachel Platts at HGF discuss the rise of the ‘intention economy’ and its impact on trademark law
Martin Wintermeier discusses taking a hit for clients, not letting stress get to you, and why being a criminal defence lawyer might have been fun
Gift this article