Intellectual Property, Wall Street

LawTwits?

Could the legal world use a tool like StockTwits in the finance world?

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One of the most interesting aspects of my journey from a big firm partner to IP boutique owner has been my introduction to (and rapid education in) the world of investments and trading. While no industry is perfect, and we could spend a lot of time debating the relative merits of the legal and financial industries, one thing that has always impressed me in my dealings with investors is Wall Street’s ravenous appetite for information. In fact, in a way I have yet to encounter in the legal world — academia and various media channels excepted — information acts as a form of currency in the financial industry. Everyone wants it, even from unreliable sources, and those who can distinguish between valuable information and noise are prized assets at financial firms. Perhaps because lawyers are used to working with imperfect information, most law firms do not employ the legions of analysts that populate their finance-focused counterparts.

As important as the hunt for information on Wall Street is the emphasis on rapid dissemination and giving traders access to it. To that end, Wall Street firms utilize a panoply of sophisticated tools — e.g., the Bloomberg terminal that made Michael Bloomberg wealthy beyond imagination — to provide their traders access to the most timely information and the means to communicate it to others. While many of the tools and algorithms used are proprietary, there is no doubt that technology has helped democratize the collection and dissemination of information relevant to investing. In fact, Twitter itself has emerged as an essential tool for traders of even the most basic level of sophistication, and stock-related information comprises a healthy percentage of non-frivolous discourse on the platform. For Markman Advisors, our Twitter account has proved an important component of our marketing efforts, with a solid audience of financially oriented entities and persons interested in our takes on patent litigation events of market interest.

While Twitter’s role in the investment universe is critical — particularly for retail (i.e., regular people) investors who lack access to the full spectrum of Wall Street information collection and distribution toys — there is undoubtedly a lot of noise that even the most finely curated Twitter feed will generate. Sorting through Twitter’s vastness can be intimidating, and it is no surprise that a more investing-only offshoot has developed.

Known as StockTwits, this tool has become a go-to resource for my own investing needs, particularly because of the ability it offers to see real-time discussions on specific stocks of interest to me at any given moment. Yes, just like Twitter there is a healthy contingent of trolls, and not all the information presented can be trusted without further investigation. But the benefits of the StockTwits platform definitely outweigh the drawbacks, especially when there is volatility in one of my holdings — making access to real-time sentiment and information more valuable.

Again, it is not surprising that a tool like StockTwits has developed in an information-hungry industry like investing. Part of its value is uniting like-minded individuals — those interested in or who have invested in a particular stock — and giving them a platform to exchange information in real time. While not all of those exchanges are immune from devolving into pitched battles between bulls and bears in a particular name, the ability to center real-time discussion on a topic of interest is a valuable contribution to a trader’s arsenal. It is precisely that capability that I find lacking in the legal world. Sure, there are a number of wonderful legal blogs focused on IP issues, and more general resources like Above the Law and other legal media outlets. But other than the occasional Twitter-based repartee, there is little in the way of real-time discussion on a variety of issues relevant to IP lawyers. Hence, I think a LawTwits could work.

Take, for example, the late-breaking news last week of Allergan’s transfer of patents — to an Indian tribe, no less — protecting one of its most valuable drug franchises. Coverage of this unusual move was immediate, both in the mainstream media and among the legal/biotech/finance punditry on Twitter. Since then, there has been a deluge of additional commentary on the repercussions of this potential patent loophole-exploiting tactic. I am partial to the analysis proffered by my partner since I think the questions he raises get to the heart of this strategy’s viability. The questions raised about this maneuver are timely, since the PTAB postponed the IPR trial on those patents in favor of briefing on the question of tribal immunity as generated by a transaction immediately characterized by a major generic company as a “sham.” For purposes of this column, however, trying to wade through the different reactions on the day of the announcement — in real-time– was a difficult endeavor, just as it can be difficult to follow all the subsequently published commentary as it is released.

Ultimately, a LawTwits could be of major utility to lawyers interested in following the real-time discussion on interesting legal topics. Or for following bonus news, or even gossip around a particular law firm. Merging the functionality and interface of a Twitter with the topicality of dedicated online forums has proven successful in the retail investing world, and I would have to imagine that a similar service would be of interest to lawyers looking to stay informed in this world of quick takes and distributed information dissemination. Until one is released, we lawyers must remain content with our own curated sources of information, even as we recognize that there is too much to know, and often too little time to even know a little of it. I for one will take any tool I can get.

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Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at [email protected] or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.

Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique, and Markman Advisors LLC, a leading consultancy on patent issues for the investment community. Gaston’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.

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