An intellectual property project out of Stanford Law School was recently developed into a private venture after the research project’s database proved commercially viable.
According to a school press release, the project, Stanford’s Intellectual Property Litigation Clearinghouse (IPLC), was “originally developed as an online research tool to provide real-time data on U.S. intellectual property litigation.” Now, the IPLC has become Lex Machina, a broader and more advanced system.
“We realized that we had built this robust, highly useful product that serves the public interest and that also has very important commercial application,” said Mark Lemley, the Law School’s director of the Law, Science & Technology Program, in the release. “But maintaining and expanding it was a more expensive proposition that we could raise money for. So we decided to make it self-sustaining through a private venture model.”
In its revamped form, Lex Machina will offer two versions – a commercial database and a free model for academic, research, policymaking, and media purposes. Since its inception and ongoing development beginning in 2006, the SLS database has grown to include more than 100,000 nationwide intellectual property and antitrust cases, and is used by more than 5,000 practitioners.
Added Law School Dean Larry Kramer: “[Lex Machina] is a great example of how public service and private enterprise are not mutually exclusive.”
