Patent Law

A reader contacted me a few months ago seeking my opinion on Ocean Tomo's live auctions.  I have not worked with Ocean Tomo, as my clients have always tried to seek licenses directly with companies and failing that litigating.

I attempted some research at the time to see if anyone has written on the value proposition offered by going with Ocean Tomo, or an equivalent, as compared to more traditional routes.  I found nothing at that time, but received a repeat query from the same reader today and found the following post from R. David Donoghue of the Chicago IP Litigation blog:

The Chicago Tribune ran an interesting article by Ann Meyer yesterday [link available at Chicago IP Litigation blog] discussing companies monetizing IP, specifically patents and dormant trademarks, not just through the more traditional means of litigation and licensing, but also through sales of the IP.  While there are numerous brokers who help sell IP, the article focused on Chicago-based Ocean Tomo's patent auctions.  It is not very surprising that in a down economy companies are looking to their IP as a significant source of value.  Nor is it surprising that companies would seek to avoid the upfront costs of both licensing and litigation in favor of a more immediate sale for IP the company is not using.  Of course, the continued health of the patent, trademark and copyright dockets in the Northern District of Illinois and across the country prove that companies continue to monetize their IP and protect market space from competitors through more traditional means as well.

Ms. Meyer describes a successful sale of patents through Ocean Tomo by Island Software, but does not actually provide a detailed analysis of the alternatives.  I believe having the opportunity to see the final bid prices for patent licenses that failed to close on Ocean Tomo and moved on to private license or litigation and compare the final proceeds (net of additional expenses) to the patent owner would go a long way to helping assess the auction value proposition.

Has anyone performed this type of analysis or know of more in depth analyses of Ocean Tomo or other IP auctions/brokers?  If so, please comment here.  See also, this previous post.