Xinova, a Seattle-based invention factory that spun off from Intellectual Ventures last year, has spun off its own new standalone company called Allied Inventors to help manage intellectual property assets.
Xinova launched back in September 2016 out of Intellectual Ventures, the Bellevue, Wash.-based intellectual property and tech company. Previously known as the Intellectual Ventures Invention Development Fund, Xinova helps match inventors within its network with customers that pose challenges they need solved.
Allied Inventors was created earlier this year as a way to specifically manage IP assets developed by the Invention Development Fund. It manages more than 5,000 IP assets and equity investments in several startups.
Paul Levins, Xinova’s executive vice president and global head of partnerships, told GeekWire that Xinova remains focused on creating solutions for big-name clients like Pepsi and Honda. Allied Inventors, meanwhile, focuses “on the licensing and commercialization of their patent portfolio,” Levins said.
Xinova has no role in Allied Inventors’ management, and vice versa. Allied Inventors is also completely separate from Intellectual Ventures, as is Xinova.
Tom Kang, who previously led Xinova, is now CEO of Allied Inventors, which employs around 10 people at its headquarters in Seattle. Xinova employs 50 people across eight offices around the world.
Edward Jung, co-founder of Intellectual Ventures, is CEO of Xinova. Jorma Ollila, former chairman of Royal Dutch Shell and former chairman and CEO of Nokia, is Xinova’s executive chairman.
