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Riverbed IP Value
After an exhaustive search through credible sources, we were unable to satisfy the request regarding how strong and valuable Riverbed's IP in WAN Optimization, DEM, and SD WAN is. It is possible that the requested information is unavailable in the public domain. As a result, we have presented alternate data below.
HELPFUL FINDINGS
- Riverbed Technology has a potent and robust intellectual property (IP) portfolio. The company's IP contains around 326 different registered patents, principally within the "Computing; Calculating" category, as well as 41 registered trademarks with the most prevalent class being "Scientific and electric apparatus and instruments."
- The RiOS software, which drives the company's award-winning and innovative series of Steelhead application acceleration appliances and Steelhead Mobile client software, is based on patented technologies that solve several issues afflicting wide area networks (WANs) and application performance, such as inefficient transport, insufficient WAN bandwidth, and application standards in high-latency circumstances.
- The above mentioned RiOS software patented technologies have allowed its clients to reduce WAN bandwidth usage by about 60% to 95%, progress applications by 100 times, and decrease packet roundtrips by 98%.
- Regarding SD-WAN, the company's SteelFusion product comprises patented technology that produces a contemporary, cloud-like experience to IT groups, assisting them in securing up to 100% of a company’s data in the public cloud or data center. It redistributes Riverbed's patented technology around interspersed storage delivery that uniquely assembles data in the data center and extends a working set out to a customer's branch.
- SteelCentral, which is the company's DEM-based product, administers patented TruePlot technology to accumulate and reserve all packets and observe every transaction, allowing clients to promptly distinguish trends and patterns in both network behavior and application performance.
- In the year 2017, Riverbed lost a patent lawsuit against RealTime Data, which was bestowed approximately $4.32 million in damages. The court found that software running on Riverbed Technology Inc.’s computer performance accelerators violated one of RealTime Data's data compression patents.
- Riverbed Technology's estimated annual revenue is at least $1.1 billion. It competes with CloudGenix, VeloCloud, and Viptela in terms of products and solutions.
Research Strategy:
Our research began by searching through the company website, especially the press releases, to find any information on the value of its intellectual property. Most companies use those sources to discuss, disclose, or quote citations of its management around its patented technologies, and how they add value and enhance its competitive advantage. However, no pertinent data could be located. The data we came across were related to its products, solutions, and patented technologies deployed across WAN, SD-WAN, and DEM categories.
Next, we searched through the company filings, including its annual reports, quarterly statements, 8-K statements, supplemental information, and company presentations. We made sure to go through its Earning Calls Transcript as it contains detailed commentary by company management on the new patented technologies it has developed, along with questions and answers from the analyst community involved in these areas. Hence, the idea behind leveraging this research path was to locate any relevant information on the quantitative or qualitative value of the patented technologies that Riverbed had disclosed in its management commentary or transcripts or figures reported in the statutory filings. While it was delisted some time ago, we attempted to unravel its past filings, and see if it provided any historical information related to the value of its IP based, on which we could triangulate. However, the information we came across concerned the various products and services Riverbed offers, its financial performance, number of patents and trademarks, and the risks associated with its infringement.
We then tried to leverage the Riverbed's sell side/analyst coverage to check for any useful information on the IP value. Sell-side/third party broker reports, particularly the initiating coverage reports, are a valuable source for such information as they cover a company from scratch and takes the value of various patented technologies and trademarks that a company holds into account. We scanned through articles from BOA, Goldman Sachs, DB, CitiBank, and Jefferies, along with other research and consultancy companies such as McKinsey, Deloitte, and Market Radar, among others. Nonetheless, the information we found addressed Riverbed's financial performance, its new product launches, and new patent lawsuits filed by or against the company.
Next, we searched through media articles from Forbes, Business Insider, Bloomberg, and Reuters, etc.; news items provided by various company databases such as Owler, Crunchbase, Hoovers, and Craft; and different blogs and magazines that publish patent and IP-related information such as IP WatchDog, IP New Flash, Patent Arcade, Patent LyO, and Justia. We wanted to see if data was available on how the company's IP has been valuable or how it has bolstered its market position by leveraging its IP. However, no relevant information was located. Most of the sources/blogs listed the patents that the company holds and the outstanding individual patents and trademarks under its name.
Finally, we decided to triangulate an answer using competitor information. The idea was to analyze its competitors, including CloudGenix, VeloCloud, and Viptela (Source#1), to determine if any of Riverbed's product categories have high entry barriers for them (i.e. they have a rudimentary presence there) due to its patented technologies. We could have concluded that Riverbed's IP in a particular sector/category adds value to it because it helps the company ward off competition, enhance its market share, and create entry barriers. Nevertheless, all the competitors were found to have a decent presence and product portfolio across WAN, SD-WAN, and DEM product categories. Hence, no IP value could be triangulated using this approach.
Due to the absence of relevant information, we were unable to offer an overview of how valuable Riverbed's IP is specifically in whether it prevents other companies from replicating its offerings. A probable reason for the lack of available information is the confidential nature of the requested data.