Seattle Companies CollinsWoerman And Intellectual Ventures Announce A Joint Venture To Commercialize Inventions For The Global Mid- And High-Rise Housing Market.

SEATTLE, Sept. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading Seattle architecture firm CollinsWoerman today announced it has formed a joint venture with Intellectual Ventures (IV), to commercialize new inventions for the design and construction of mid- and high-rise housing from a kit of prefabricated component parts. The joint venture will be called Innovative Building Technologies, LLC (IBT) and based in Seattle.

The aim of this joint venture with IV's Invention Development Fund is to develop and strengthen the intellectual property portfolio supporting a group of inventions related to the specifics of IBT's prefabricated component parts building technology and to commercialize the inventions for global markets. Innovative Building Technologies will be the owner of the related patent portfolio and CollinsWoerman and its Sustainable Living Innovations, LLC, (SLI) affiliate will have an exclusive license to deploy the technology in the North American market. Innovative Building Technologies will find global licensees for the technology in other markets such as China, Japan, and Vietnam.

The first building using the IBT technology is underway at 47^th and 7^th Ave in the University District in Seattle, with completion scheduled for year-end. Additional projects are in the advanced stages of planning in San Francisco, Alaska, North Dakota and other locations.

Chris Alliegro, Managing Director of the Invention Development Fund said of the joint venture: "Intellectual Ventures uses our global invention ecosystem of thousands of inventors and hundreds of organizations to address several complex global problems. This includes a number of areas related to the building industry and the problem of making this fundamentally important economic driver more environmentally-friendly. Our Innovative Building Technologies joint venture with CollinsWoerman will allow us to tackle this particular global problem head on."  

Arlan Collins, Principal of CollinsWoerman, commented: "We believe everyone can live and/or work in buildings that support human health, build community, and are easy on the environment. Buildings assembled from component parts can deliver these extraordinary results – that's why we developed this technology."

More information about IBT can be found at:  http://intellectualventures.com/vignettes/collinswoerman.

About CollinsWoerman
Founded in 1988, CollinsWoerman is a collaborative architecture, design and planning firm providing integrated, sustainable solutions. CollinsWoerman specializes in Commercial, Healthcare, Mixed-Use/Residential, and Science and Technology Architecture; Interior Planning and Design; Urban Design and Planning; and Sustainability in built environments. For more information, please visit: www.collinswoerman.com.

About Intellectual Ventures
Founded in 2000, Intellectual Ventures (IV) is the global leader in the business of invention. IV collaborates with leading inventors, partners with pioneering companies and invests both expertise and capital in the process of invention. IV's mission is to energize and streamline an invention economy that will drive innovation around the world.

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SOURCE Intellectual Ventures