Reading Between the Lines: Competitive Intelligence Through EDGAR Filings

Russell Boltwood, EVP/General Counsel, Transpacific IP Management Group Pte., Ltd.

The majority of corporate legal professionals practicing in the United States on behalf of publicly-traded companies (or “issuers,” pursuant to U.S. securities law parlance) are familiar with EDGAR – more formally known as the Electronic Data Gathering and Retrieval System. Maintained by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), EDGAR is the main route for the filing of the forms and periodic reports required of issuers of public securities under U.S. securities laws. Due to both the amount and extensiveness of information filings requirements encountered by issuers in the United States, EDGAR comprises a rich, extremely informative source of data regarding an issuer’s business operations, finances, risks and prospects. Indeed, the information contained within EDGAR, when properly analyzed and utilized by in-house counsel, presents such practitioners with a unique opportunity to provide extremely useful competitive intelligence to their financial and operational executive peers. The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with a brief overview of EDGAR, as well as some of the key forms and reports filed by issuers under the U.S. securities laws. Additionally, attention will be paid to particular portions of forms and reports filed on EDGAR that are specifically required by SEC rules to be filed by issuers, and how these specific portions may be analyzed by in-house counsel to provide useful information to decision-makers within her own enterprise.

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Singapore Competition General May 2010 Vol. 3, No. 11, Spring 2010

Russell Boltwood

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Russell Boltwood is the Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Transpacific IP Management Group, Pte. Ltd. Russell holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, a J.D. from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, and is a graduate of the Executive Program at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business in Palo Alto, California. He is also recognized by the Licensing Executives Society as a Certified Licensing Executive. Russell writes and speaks frequently on a variety of legal topics, including intellectual property, corporate and employment law. Russell may be reached by e-mail at Russell.Boltwood@transpacific-ip.com.

Transpacific IP Management Group Pte., Ltd.

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Transpacific IP Management Group, Pte. Ltd., the leading intellectual property acquisition, portfolio management and consulting firm in the Asia Pacific Region. Transpacific specializes in acquiring, brokering, managing and licensing a variety of intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, brands and specialized know-how. Transpacific has offices in Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo, and maintains a multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary team of professionals that assist operating companies and financial firms with their intellectual property needs. Transpacific possesses technical expertise in a wide range of high technology fields, including consumer electronics, computer software and hardware, wireless communications, displays, digital cameras, semiconductors, video compression, e-commerce and medical devices.

Singapore Competition General May 2010 Vol. 3, No. 11, Spring 2010