Accounting for the value of intellectual property in business still lags aeons behind

15 March 2019 - 05:05Theranos is also a classic example of how an IP-backed firm can create wealth, says the writer. Picture: 123rf/tashatuvango

Theranos’ now archived website states that Holmes was named inventor on more than 200 patents , “foundational for the company’s more than 1,000 pending and issued patents, many related to less-invasive lab testing on smaller samples”. Holmes had dropped out of Stanford University to found Theranos, inspired by a desire to help people by finding ways of replacing extensive and expensive blood tests with a machine that could test for a long list of diseases with just a single drop of blood.

Incredibly, Theranos’ success bowed, then broke, on just one fundamental property. Intellectual property . An intangible, largely invisible asset — hidden both in financial accounts and physically. Intangibles are difficult to see, much less to understand and disclose.

Yet Theranos is also a classic example of how an IP-backed firm can create wealth. Much of the hype was based on a story around IP. This hype generated interest and significant funding, which is fundamental to the success of any small or medium-sized enterprise. If only the story were true. Theranos illustrates what can be done if a business strategy is linked with an IP narrative, and the massive information gap even if IP is disclosed.

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