A press release on Monday from Ocean Tomo announced a restructuring at its firm, most notably with the auction business. Andrew Ramer, former President of OT’s auction business, seems to have been replaced by Dr. Dipanjan Nag and Michael Anglin. Dipanjan Nag previously developed the firm’s patent bid/ask practice, and is touted to have significant experience in bio-pharm and life sciences. Anglin was previously the firm’s Chief Operations Officer and has an accounting background; he will head the auction business going forward.
The release also signals postponing the Hong Kong and Paris auctions slated to be held this Summer and Fall, to 2010. The relevant portion of the piece reads as follows:
”We do expect some impact to pricing at our upcoming auction at the Ritz Carlton San Francisco on March 27th,” Malackowski concedes. “That said, the US market remains much stronger than technology sectors in Asia. We are considering delaying to 2010 our planned introduction of the auction platform in Hong Kong mid-June. Having a good US patent portfolio still remains to be the most promising ticket to win in the global markets, and the recession is making more buyers and sellers focus on US patents. We
are watching the data closely but if the trend remains, we will not hesitate to move Hong Kong back and hold a second auction in the US, likely Chicago, later this year.” Ocean Tomo’s auction last October in Chicago, in the same month that the Dow Jones Index dropped 14%, was its second strongest and an undisputed success. “Chicago is our hometown and has always been a good venue for us,” Malackowski maintains. “Even if the balance of 2009 turns out to be challenging, we are committed to all three components of our transactions platform and take seriously our role as a market maker.”
I will be attending the upcoming auction in San Francisco, so I will see first hand if there is any slump in the sales. The release speaks of a predicted increase in bio-pharm and life science transactions as well. To be continued . . .
Ian McClure is a former corporate & securities and intellectual property law attorney with 
Trevor M. Blum is a former Associate in the Chicago-based, valuation practice group of Ocean Tomo, LLC., an intellectual property (IP) consultancy. Additionally, he provided instrumental research support to Intellectual Property Exchange International, Inc., an IP exchange start-up. Trevor holds a B.S. from Indiana University and is currently an MBA candidate at the University of Cambridge, focusing on international business and finance. His interests also include entrepreneurship, economics, and informational visualization. He enjoys running and cycling in his free time. Trevor seeks to bring a transnational business perspective to the blog. 
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