Not sure there's anything to stop competitors from wreaking...

Not sure there's anything to stop competitors from wreaking havoc if they wanted to cut prices to wage a price war.

For some reason IPH didn't provide their group trademark numbers this year, and it was difficult to find the change in patent filings for the group. Are they testing the waters for not providing patent metrics next report? They may not want us to easily be able to track or think about the fees per filing, or cost per filing, to pull the wool over our eyes?

As IPH have been mounting some takeovers, I would be wary that they may have raised their pricing, and are making hay this year (and exciting a market that is applying new IPH metrics to acquisitions), but might suffer in future years if business is lost due to high pricing. Clients can go to lots of places. Any big share sales by key shareholders or management might be a big red siren. I would hope that isn't the case - but raising opacity and having sudden significantly improved margins are a dangerous combination IMO. My spidey senses tell me some sort of stitch up may be on the way.