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Description of Business and Basis of Presentation | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2012
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation [Abstract] |
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation | DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION Description of Business. As used herein, “Acacia” and the “Company” refer to Acacia Research Corporation and/or its wholly and majority-owned and controlled operating subsidiaries. All intellectual property acquisition, development, licensing and enforcement activities are conducted solely by certain of Acacia’s wholly and majority-owned and controlled operating subsidiaries. Acacia’s operating subsidiaries acquire, develop, license and otherwise enforce patented technologies. Acacia’s operating subsidiaries generate revenues and related cash flows from the granting of intellectual property rights for the use of, or pertaining to, patented technologies that such operating subsidiaries own or control. Acacia’s operating subsidiaries assist patent owners with the prosecution and development of their patent portfolios, the protection of their patented technologies from unauthorized use, the generation of revenue from users of their patented technologies and, if necessary, the enforcement against unauthorized users of their patented technologies. Currently, on a consolidated basis, Acacia’s operating subsidiaries own or control the rights to over 250 patent portfolios, which include U.S. patents and certain foreign counterparts, covering technologies used in a wide variety of industries. In January 2012, a wholly owned operating subsidiary of Acacia acquired ADAPTIX, Inc. (“ADAPTIX”), a pioneer in the development of 4G technologies for wireless systems, for cash consideration of $160 million, as described at Note 8 to these consolidated financial statements. Basis of Presentation. The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Acacia and its wholly and majority-owned and controlled subsidiaries. Material intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. Noncontrolling interests in Acacia’s majority-owned and controlled operating subsidiaries (“noncontrolling interests”) are separately presented as a component of stockholders’ equity in the consolidated statements of financial position for the applicable periods presented. Consolidated net income (loss) is adjusted to include the net (income) loss attributed to noncontrolling interests in the consolidated statements of operations. Refer to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for total noncontrolling interests, net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests and contributions from and distributions to noncontrolling interests, for the applicable periods presented. In August 2010, a wholly owned subsidiary of Acacia became the general partner of the Acacia Intellectual Property Fund, L.P. (the “Acacia IP Fund”), which was formed in August 2010. The Acacia IP Fund is authorized to raise up to $250 million. The Acacia IP Fund acquires, licenses and enforces intellectual property consisting primarily of patents, patent rights, and patented technologies. The Acacia IP Fund is included in the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the periods presented, as Acacia’s wholly owned subsidiary, as the majority owner and general partner, has the ability to control the operations and activities of the Acacia IP Fund. The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, certain information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America in annual financial statements have been omitted or condensed in accordance with quarterly reporting requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). These interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2011, as reported by Acacia in its Annual Report on Form 10-K. The year-end consolidated balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The consolidated financial statements of Acacia include all adjustments of a normal recurring nature which, in the opinion of management, are necessary for a fair statement of Acacia’s financial position as of September 30, 2012, and results of its operations and its cash flows for the interim periods presented. The results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the entire fiscal year.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the business description and basis of presentation concepts. Business description describes the nature and type of organization including but not limited to organizational structure as may be applicable to holding companies, parent and subsidiary relationships, business divisions, business units, business segments, affiliates and information about significant ownership of the reporting entity. Basis of presentation describes the underlying basis used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS). + References No definition available. + Details
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