Investor Due Diligence

The Rockridge due diligence team is led by D.C., New York, and Silicon Valley expats who offer 360 degree IP surveys to Southeastern investors. Our team has unique experience that you’re simply not going to find anywhere else. We’ve commercialized CRISPR and MOFs when the acronyms were hot off the press. We’ve litigated billion-dollar patent suits. We’ve published in the nerdiest of academic journals. We’ve structured licensing deals for Grammy and Nobel winners as well as world champion athletes. We’ve seen our own venture-backed startups through to acquisition. 

We’re intellectual property experts because we love what we do, and we love the unique team of aficionados that we work with.

Your average due diligence attorney has never published a manuscript, raised capital, litigated a technology, or built a brand. We’ve assembled a formidable team that draws on these experiences in every diligence review to ensure you’re getting a 360° workup of the target. 

Our goal? To move you from 10x to 100x.

We Review your Target Company’s…

• Intellectual Property
• Team
• Technology Landscape
• Venture Position

So that you can…

• De-risk your investment.
• Choose among potential investments.
• Improve your negotiating position.
• Deepen your insight into the opportunity.

What Sets Us Apart?

Fun.

That’s right, fun. We’re not estate planners. (Because who the hell wants to practice estate law?) We love the gamesmanship, innovation, and strategy of intellectual property, which means we love the work we can do for you.

Trust.

Your Rockridge team features not one but two members who have held top secret security clearances (NSA & NNSA). That’s secret squirrel level trust. We’re highly ethical in our dealings. We also know how to protect the sensitivities of our clients while working to accomplish their interests. 

Dynamic.

Deals don’t wait for junior-level partners to read Brad Feld 101. Our team is tight, talented, and ready for takeoff when you send us the lead. 

Expertise.

We’re proud of our individual backgrounds, but the synergy of our combined experiences is what truly sets us apart. In addition to our investor and corporate work, we also advise entrepreneurship programs at AgLaunch, Bethesda Green Hub, First Flight Ventures, Oak Ridge National Lab, Singularity University, and Yale Tsai CITY, helping us stay abreast of groundbreaking innovations and new market opportunities throughout the U.S. 

Our Process

1. We review your due diligence.
2. We connect with your target company.
3. We investigate their filings, competition,
   regulatory landscape, and markets.
4. We turn raw information into actionable
   insights and opportunities. 

Here’s How it Works…

We review your due diligence.

• We analyze the data room and any due diligence work you’ve already conducted to better focus our efforts.

We connect with the company.

• We engage with your target company early, ask the right questions, and effectively rank the company’s technology applications and market opportunities. 

We conduct a holistic IP review.

• We search through public and private intellectual property, litigation, market, securities and technical databases, and other highly relevant information sources that most due diligence agents commonly fail to exploit. 

We turn raw information into actionable insights and opportunities. 

• Our secret sauce is in our findings. 

Like any good lawyer, we’ll give you a “yes” or a “no” to advise you on how to proceed. 

But we don’t stop there. We’ll explain our precise findings via a custom video. We’ll give you the easy-to-understand infographics right alongside the nitty-gritty black and white details. Our advisories are tailored to your unique investment thesis, as well as specific goals and strategies for each deal on the table. If your investment purpose is simply to better understand other holdings in your portfolio, we advise accordingly. If you are looking to kick tires, we supply you with the proper shoe. If you need to understand market potential in light of complex foreign licensing or patenting standards, we can walk you through appropriate concerns and operational pitfalls. 

We make clear, actionable recommendations so that you can make better investments.

How do you spot an IP dumpster fire?

We consider a whole lot of variables when reviewing your target. We’ve walked this road enough times to know every twist and turn that comes with safeguarding your IP, and we’re fully prepared to deliver the invaluable information you need to make your next best step. 

By asking all the right questions and turning up the right insights, we bring you confidence and clarity.

Examples of questions we ask:

• Has this company filed any trademark applications? If not, is it in danger of a rebrand?
  
• Based on the industry, what’s the relative value of copyrights vs. trademarks vs. patents vs. trade secrets?
  
• Are the company’s patent claims enforceable?
  
• What competitors are designing around the target’s technology? How are they addressing the target’s issued claims in forward citations?
  
• Could the company run out of capital or patent protection before obtaining FDA or other regulatory approvals?
  
• Has the company incorporated open source software into its platform? If so, are there any publicized vulnerabilities?
  
• Who has maintained the open source code? Do any open source licenses conflict or encumber future development or commercialization? 

Rockridge Venture Law® turns promising ideas into lucrative reality. 

Our team is tight, talented, and ready for takeoff when you send us the lead. 

We’ll find all information relevant to your target, synthesize it, and advise you on whether or not you have a good prospect on your hands. Invest with confidence and clarity. 

Shoot us an email, and we’ll help you make your best investments.

Associated Blogs, Presentations, Publications