"... after a few more flashes in the pan, we shall hear very little more of Edison or his electric lamp. Every claim he makes has been tested and proved impracticable."
- New York Times, January 16, 1880

About Michael Craner

Michael Craner is a technology executive and registered patent agent with over 25 years experience in cutting-edge systems development, integration, deployment, and management; and over 10 years experience in licensing and intellectual property analysis/assertion/protection. His background spans concept-to-revenue with a broad range of products: from advanced telecommunications and military systems, to high-volume consumer multimedia and CATV digital appliances.

In late 2001 he started MediaComm Innovations to offer a full range of specialized IP-related services to corporations and universities, law firms & individual inventors. Before then, Mr. Craner held the position of Director of Licensing at Motorola’s Broadband Communication Sector (BCS) where he was responsible for all licensing in and out for BCS, as well as management of a patent portfolio of over 500 patents covering digital compression, secure multimedia transport, video on demand (VOD), voice over IP (VOIP), cable modems, optical transport, and personnel video recorders. He also participated in standards-related groups including MPEG LA - the licensing administrator for the MPEG digital video standard IP pool. As a technical advisor to the intellectual property law group, standards leaders, and business development, he performed infringement analysis, license negotiation, and technical due diligence on strategic investments, including structuring IP as a potential equity component and analyzing business models.

He also provided licensing support for BCS products including the CES award-winning Simplefi wireless digital-audio receiver and the DCP500 series integrated digital-cable and home-theatre appliance. As a senior manager, Mr. Craner assembled and managed the integration team that launched the first non-trial digital cable system in the U.S., and led the integration of the advanced digital STB system for AT&T.

He also evangelized the development of high-definition consumer appliances within General Instrument and supported the specification of HDTV-over-cable demonstrations and products in adherence with FCC mandates. Prior to this, Mr. Craner held director of engineering / CTO positions at two consumer multimedia companies, one of which he co-founded. There he managed multinational product development teams working in the PC multimedia market.

Until early 2009, Mr. Craner was a systems engineer and IP evangelist/portfolio manager at Guideworks (a joint venture between Comcast and Macrovision/Gemstar-TVGuide) where he participated in development of next-generation and OCAP-compatible interactive cable/consumer navigators and captured more than 80 inventions, contributing as inventor or co-inventor on roughly 50% of them. He has also performed patent preparation and prosecution for numerous high-technology firms, personally drafting over 50 patent applications.

Mr. Craner holds a masters degree in electrical and computer engineering from SUNY Buffalo and has attended postgraduate studies at Virginia Polytechnic and Johns Hopkins universities. He is a registered patent agent with the U.S Patent and Trademark Office, a member of the Licensing Executive Society (LES) and senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).