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Patent Auctions Continue, Despite Setbacks

By John Bringardner

The New York Times ran a piece yesterday on patent auctions, focusing on the story of Daniel Schlager, a doctor who invented a "personal alarm" device using GPS technology in the early 1990s. As a small inventor, Schlager and a partner hired a patent licensing consultant to help them present the technology to cellphone companies like Qualcomm and Motorola. They weren't able to interest them in taking a license, so they sued. According to the article, Schlager's company, Zoltar Satellite Alarm Systems, has spent millions in legal fees and collected millions in settlements. Now Zoltar is looking to sell its alarm patents next month in an auction put on by San Francisco-based patent broker Pluritas. The article doesn't specify how the "auction" will take place, nor does this press release, but it does hint at the Zoltar patent portfolio's value. Today, the fast-growing makers of smartphones like Research in Motion, Apple, HTC and Nokia have no agreements with Zoltar. Dr. Schlager said he did not plan to sue them. Instead Zoltar will sell its patents in an auction, hoping for a faster, simpler and less risky payoff. Given the 20-year shelf life of a patent, Zoltar's patents presumably have at...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on September 21, 2009 (boomark / email).