Hilco Streambank is excited to announce that Karl Maersch has joined Hilco Streambank as Senior Vice President to lead the Patents & Technology team. Prior to joining Hilco, Mr. Maersch lead West Four IP, a consulting firm providing advice on IP strategy, patent and technology licensing, plus intellectual property valuation and monetization services.
“I am excited to join Hilco Streambank and lead the new Patents & Technology team,” said Mr. Maersch. “The synergy between my team’s intellectual property strategy and monetization capabilities and Hilco Streambank’s valuation and monetization expertise has terrific potential. I look forward to many successful outcomes for our combined clients.”
Prior to founding West Four IP, Mr. Maersch was head of intellectual property litigation worldwide for The Dow Chemical Company. In that role, he instituted a process to identify monetizable assets in the company’s extensive patent portfolio and managed various offensive litigation and licensing matters, including filing the company’s first-ever ITC complaint. This action resulted in a 25-year exclusion order, believed to be the longest exclusion order in the history of the International Trade Commission.
Before joining Dow, Mr. Maersch was Associate General Counsel at Eastman Kodak where he managed a team of attorneys, technologists, and licensing executives that supported the company’s intellectual property functions, including patent licensing, patent sales, patent litigation, patent-based M&A, and brand licensing. Mr. Maersch also managed the IP aspects of Kodak’s bankruptcy. During his time at Kodak, his team generated over $1.9B in revenue from IP.
Mr. Maersch started his career at Jones Day where he litigated intellectual property disputes in U.S. District Court, at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the ITC, and in various courts in Europe and Asia.
“We are thrilled to have Karl join the Hilco Streambank team. Karl’s background and experience are an ideal fit for our group as he brings legal, technical and business experience to this role, as well as a track record of successful monetization efforts,” said Gabe Fried, CEO of Hilco Streambank.
Mr. Maersch earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and a JD from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Review of Intellectual Property Law. Currently, Mr. Maersch is based in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. He has five daughters that range in age from six to 20 and is a regular at his kids’ sporting events, including serving as TV announcer for the high school girls’ soccer and lacrosse teams. He is an avid skier, snowboarder and cyclist and a fan of both the Grateful Dead and Phish.
About Hilco Streambank:
Hilco Streambank is a market leading advisory firm specializing in intellectual property disposition and valuation. Having completed numerous transactions including sales in publicly reported Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, private transactions, and online sales through IPv4.Global, Hilco Streambank has established itself as the premier intermediary in the consumer brand, internet and telecom communities. Hilco Streambank is part of Northbrook, Illinois based Hilco Global, the world’s leading authority on maximizing the value of business assets by delivering valuation, monetization and advisory solutions to an international marketplace. Hilco Global operates more than twenty specialized business units offering services that include asset valuation and appraisal, retail and industrial inventory acquisition and disposition, real estate and strategic capital equity investments.
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