Allied Security Trust
Allied Security Trust is a Princeton-based non-profit cooperative that provides patent risk mitigation to 40+ global technology companies through collaborative defensive patent acquisition, the proprietary fAST IP database of 250,000+ patent assets, and the annual IP3 patent purchase program.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersPrinceton, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Allied Security Trust does
Allied Security Trust (AST) is a member-driven non-profit cooperative founded in 2007 and headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, that provides patent risk mitigation services to leading global technology companies. Its core proposition is collaborative defensive patent acquisition: instead of any single company independently buying patents from the secondary market, AST pools member funding to intercept patents before they reach Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs), thereby reducing the stock of weaponizable patents. The organization operates through two primary acquisition channels — a year-round Standard Patent Acquisitions Program and the annual IP3 (Industry Patent Purchase Program), a fixed-price, fixed-term buying event launched in 2016. As of recent years, AST has spent over $500M acquiring patent rights across 650+ deals, helping members avoid 1,500+ litigations; notably, 93% of over 13,000 U.S. patent litigations involving patents previously received by AST were initiated by NPEs.
AST's primary technology asset is fAST IP, a proprietary, members-only database of over 250,000 patent assets developed over 19 years with approximately $20M of cumulative investment. The database features the AST Product Taxonomy, built from analysis of 100,000+ patents and described as the largest classified dataset of its kind — over five times the average portfolio size of the top 20 U.S. patent holders. Search is enabled across hundreds of technology and product areas, classified by in-house subject matter experts. Members also receive access to patent triage and evaluation services, a Quarterly Patent Deals Report (e.g., 468 transactions and 2,743 assets in Q4 2025), and a Membership ROI Calculator. Sub-brands include IP3, the Sublicense Rights Agreement (SRA) program, and the EGC (Emerging Growth Company) Program.
AST's business model is structured around annual membership dues paid into the cooperative: Under $1B revenue companies pay $100K/year (Associate), $1B–$4B companies pay $150K/year (Associate), and over $4B revenue companies pay $200K/year (Full). 100% of dues fund operations under the non-profit structure. Members also contribute to pooled deal-participation funding for specific patent acquisitions and vote on every transaction with full pricing transparency. The Emerging Growth Company Program offers free membership to startups under $250M revenue and $10K/year to those between $250M and $500M revenue, broadening the funnel. Members include Google, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Meta, Oracle, Cisco, Salesforce, Uber, Verizon, TikTok, Sony, Spotify, Snap, and Philips. AST charges no fees to patent sellers or brokers and no commission on license fees, distinguishing it from traditional patent monetization intermediaries.
Allied Security Trust firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Allied Security Trust
- Legal name
- Allied Security Trust
- Website
- https://ast.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Allied Security Trust is a Princeton-based non-profit cooperative that provides patent risk mitigation to 40+ global technology companies through collaborative defensive patent acquisition, the proprietary fAST IP database of 250,000+ patent assets, and the annual IP3 patent purchase program.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Allied Security Trust industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Intellectual Property Risk Mitigation Services
- NAICS
- Miscellaneous Intermediation (523910)
- SIC
- Patent Owners & Lessors (6794)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Standards-Essential Patents (SEP) & FRAND Advisory (BPAHAMAL)
Keywords
Where Allied Security Trust is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Princeton
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Allied Security Trust business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Annual Membership Dues: AST is funded by annual contributions made by its membership firms. Members pay dues based on revenue tier: Under $1B Associate $100k/yr; $1B-$4B Associate $150k/yr; Over $4B Full $200k/yr. As a non-profit cooperative, 100% of dues fund operations.
- Deal Participation Contributions: Members contribute to patent acquisition funding when participating in deals. Contributions are pooled for collaborative patent purchases.
- EGC Subscription Fees: Emerging Growth Companies with revenue $250M-$500M pay $10K/year. Companies under $250M revenue participate free.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Associate Tier - Under $1B annual revenue |
| Subscription | Annual | Associate Tier - $1B to $4B annual revenue |
| Subscription | Annual | Full Tier - Over $4B annual revenue |
| Subscription | Annual | EGC Program - Revenue under $250M |
| Subscription | Annual | EGC Program - Revenue $250M-$500M |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels6 records
Allied Security Trust product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Allied Security Trust (AST) is a member-driven, non-profit cooperative that provides patent risk mitigation services to leading global technology companies. Its core activities include collective defensive acquisition of patent rights through a proprietary 250,000+ asset patent database (fAST IP), an annual fixed-price collaborative buying program (IP3), and a year-round Standard Patent Acquisitions Program, with all acquired patents licensed back to members.
Product overview
Allied Security Trust is a member-driven cooperative providing patent risk mitigation services through a suite of integrated products. The core offering centers on fAST IP, a proprietary database of over 250,000 patent assets, combined with the IP3 fixed-price annual buying program and the Standard Patent Acquisitions Program for year-round transactions. Additional services include the Sublicense Rights Agreement (SRA) for licensing, the Emerging Growth Company (EGC) Program for startups, a Membership ROI Calculator for prospect evaluation, and Quarterly Patent Deals Reports for market intelligence. Members include leading global technology companies such as Cisco, Google, IBM, Intel, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, Philips, Salesforce, Snap, Sony, Spotify, TikTok, Uber and Verizon.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- IP3: Industry Patent Purchase Program - a collaborative fixed-price, fixed-term patent purchase and licensing program connecting patent sellers with AST's consortium of member companies
- fAST IP
- EGC Program
Products and services
- fAST IP Member-only, password-protected web-based database containing over 250,000 patent assets available for sale on the secondary market, searchable across hundreds of technology areas and classified by subject matter experts.
- IP3 (Industry Patent Purchase Program) Annual fixed-price, fixed-term collaborative patent buying program that enables patent owners to submit patents for purchase consideration by a consortium of leading technology company members; AST facilitates transactions on behalf of participating members.
- Standard Patent Acquisitions Program Year-round patent acquisition program open continuously for patent submissions from owners, inventors, universities, and brokers. Features negotiable pricing, optional purchase or license structures, no deadlines, and no obligations until NDA or Patent Assignment Agreement execution.
- EGC (Emerging Growth Company) Program
Quantifiable outcome
- Over $500M spent in acquiring patent rights helping Members avoid 1,500+ litigations
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Allied Security Trust
Customer profileNamed customers16 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Allied Security Trust technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Allied Security Trust partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- AistemoscoreAST collaborated with Aistemos to develop Cipher n/d, an AI-powered patent analysis tool. AST provided its comprehensive product taxonomy and data classifications to power the tool, enabling rational licensing decisions and reducing patent litigation through objective analysis.
- RPX Corporationcore78% of AST members also belong to RPX. The two organizations are complementary - RPX resolves threats already in play reactively while AST operates upstream intercepting patents before they become active assertions. Together they cover the full risk lifecycle.
- LOT NetworkminorLOT Network provides protection if a fellow member's patent is acquired by a PAE. AST covers the broader universe of patents from any seller on the open market. Both tools complement each other in a comprehensive IP toolkit.
- Unified PatentsminorUnified Patents challenges patents already in NPE hands using IPR petitions. AST operates earlier by acquiring patents on the secondary market before they reach NPE hands. Together they reduce the stock of weaponizable patents while catching new ones.
- Open Invention NetworkminorAST mentions Open Invention Network as one of the organizations companies can join to foster collaboration in patent risk mitigation alongside AST membership.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Allied Security Trust competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- RPX Corporation: RPX is the most direct peer to AST, providing defensive patent acquisition and risk mitigation services on a subscription basis to operating companies. AST explicitly describes RPX as a complementary defensive partner, and 78% of AST members also belong to RPX, underscoring direct overlap in member base and service offering.
- LOT Network: LOT Network is a defensive patent non-aggression pool that protects members if a fellow member's patent is acquired by a PAE. Like AST, LOT targets the same upstream NPE-risk problem for global technology companies and competes for the same defensive IP budget.
- Unified Patents: Unified Patents operates a defensive portfolio using IPR petitions to challenge NPE-held patents. AST itself names Unified Patents as a complementary defensive player, and both compete for membership dollars from the same technology-company buyer base.
- Open Invention Network: Open Invention Network is a Linux-focused defensive patent pool that AST references as a peer defensive organization. It serves a similar member-driven, defensive-acquisition mandate but is concentrated in open-source / Linux-adjacent technology.
Broad incumbents
- MPEG LA: MPEG LA is one of the largest patent pool administrators, licensing standard-essential patents on behalf of owners. It shares AST's patent licensing/intermediation DNA but is anchored to SEP pools rather than defensive acquisition of NPE-bound assets.
- Sisvel: Sisvel is a patent pool administrator managing SEP licensing programs across multiple technology areas. It is comparable to AST in acting as an intermediary between patent owners and large technology users, though its model is pool licensing rather than defensive acquisition.
- Via Licensing: Via Licensing administers patent pools and collaborative licensing programs on behalf of technology owners and implementers. Comparable to AST in providing structured patent licensing infrastructure for technology companies, with focus on standards-based pools.
- Acacia Research: Acacia Research is a publicly traded patent licensing and investment company that acquires and licenses patent portfolios. While it sits on the offensive side of the market, it operates in the same secondary patent acquisition and licensing ecosystem that AST intermediates.
- Intellectual Ventures: Intellectual Ventures is a large IP investment and licensing firm that has historically been both a creator and acquirer of patents. It is comparable to AST in scale and scope of IP transactions, though it operates as a for-profit entity with a broader offensive-and-defensive mandate.
Others
- Aistemos: Aistemos is a patent analytics and intelligence platform with which AST partnered to develop Cipher n/d. Comparable as an enabling technology provider in the secondary patent market ecosystem that supports AST's fAST IP and IP3 workflows.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Allied Security Trust social profiles
Digital presenceAllied Security Trust financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Allied Security Trust leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Allied Security Trust funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Allied Security Trust M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Allied Security Trust
What does Allied Security Trust do?
Allied Security Trust (AST) is a member-driven, non-profit cooperative that provides patent risk mitigation services to leading global technology companies. Its core activities include collective defensive acquisition of patent rights through a proprietary 250,000+ asset patent database (fAST IP), an annual fixed-price collaborative buying program (IP3), and a year-round Standard Patent Acquisitions Program, with all acquired patents licensed back to members.
Is Allied Security Trust a public or private company?
Allied Security Trust is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Allied Security Trust founded?
Allied Security Trust was founded in 2007. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Allied Security Trust based?
Allied Security Trust is headquartered in Princeton, United States, in the North America region.
How does Allied Security Trust make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Annual Membership Dues are the primary driver. The others are deal Participation Contributions and EGC Subscription Fees.
Who are Allied Security Trust's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are RPX Corporation, LOT Network, Unified Patents and Open Invention Network. Broad incumbents are MPEG LA, Sisvel, Via Licensing, Acacia Research and Intellectual Ventures. Aistemos is listed as an others.
Does Allied Security Trust have an API?
No public API is recorded for Allied Security Trust.
What industry is Allied Security Trust in?
Allied Security Trust's product category is Intellectual Property Risk Mitigation Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAMAL, Standards-Essential Patents (SEP) & FRAND Advisory. Its NAICS code is 523910 and its SIC code is 6794.