Intellectual Property Is Eclipse 500 Goal

Fred George

Tuesday evening, David Green, president of the Eclipse 500 Owners Club, initiated a conference call to as many as 150 Eclipse jet owners during which he and a core group of supporters proposed formation of "NewCo", a non-profit cooperative venture that would bid on the intellectual property of Eclipse Aviation at the upcoming Chapter 7 auction sale of the company's assets.

Green's group believes it would be impossible to support the aircraft without rights to the aircraft Type Certificate, computer software and other proprietary data. By acquiring such intellectual property, NewCo would be able to provide ongoing support for the aircraft at the lowest possible cost, Green's group claims. If a for-profit company were to acquire the intellectual property, it could charge "exorbitant fees for access to service and upgrades." Such fees would decrease the resale of the aircraft dollar for dollar, Green claims.

If NewCo were to succeed in buying Eclipse's intellectual property, it would partner with an outside aviation firm to perform work on the aircraft, charging labor at going market rates, but providing parts at cost. Green's group believes it must raise $10- to $20-million to be a viable bidder, requiring an initial investment of $150,000 per airplane on the part of each owner who choses to participate in the cooperative. In addition, another $12- to $14-million would be required to support the organization's engineering activities during the first year, if an MRO partner cannot be found. The total first year investment could be in the range of $35-million.

AviationWeek.com photo by Frances Fiorino