Allied Security Trust

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.

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

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

• Patent risk mitigation
• Consortium patent buying
• Defensive patent acquisition
• Patent portfolio licensing
• Secondary patent market

Headquarters

HQ city

Princeton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. 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.
2. Deal Participation Contributions: Members contribute to patent acquisition funding when participating in deals. Contributions are pooled for collaborative patent purchases.
3. EGC Subscription Fees: Emerging Growth Companies with revenue $250M-$500M pay $10K/year. Companies under $250M revenue participate free.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core 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

Named customers16 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AistemoscoreTechnology or Integration · 29 November 2018AST 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 CorporationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner78% 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 NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLOT 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 PatentsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUnified 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 NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAST 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

Direct 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

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/allied-security-trust/?viewAsMember=true

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Allied Security Trust