Mar 26, 2010
Today ICAP Ocean Tomo will host their Spring 2010 IP Auction in San Francisco, which has stirred a lot of buzz lately in the blogosphere because of various sales made before the auction has even started. Joff Wild has highlighted this trend in a couple of recent posts at the IAM Blog, including a recent post with a word from Avancept IP Counseling's Tom Ewing regarding a study he has completed on the string of auctions and their trends. Interestingly, the early sales is ... Read More
Sep 25, 2009
An interesting piece by Jackie Hutter over at the IP Asset Maximizer Blog uses some narrow empirical data offered by Marcus Malek of the Intangitopia Blog to dispell the notion that intellectual property auctions have provided any benefits for individual inventors or patent holders. The piece was written in response to this NY Times article by Steve Lohr, which claims that "patent auctions offer protections to inventors." Ms. Hutter "wonder[s] if the fact-checkers took a break when this article was presented for publication," adding that ... Read More
Jul 16, 2009
Another Ocean Tomo conference and auction is upon us, and perhaps this one has solicited the most curiosity from IP market outsiders because of the recent sale of the Ocean Tomo transactions practice to ICAP, including its well known auction platform. How will this transaction affect the public perception and success of these auctions? Was the auction platform really a "distressed asset", as many have called it? These will be answered shortly. The turnout for this event, however, should prove that there ... Read More
Mar 31, 2009
I returned from the Ocean Tomo Spring 2009 Conference and Auction in San Francisco with a head full of questions about the status of the market. The market continues to grow, and that is a fact evidenced by the number of professionals and market participants that attended the conference. Nevermind the dismal auction results, which will be the subject of another post, the conference itself and the overall optimistic and enthusiastic mood of discussion that buzzed through the rooms and halls of ... Read More
Mar 24, 2009
I will be in San Francisco this week for the kick-off of the IP Markets 2009 series (lets hope its a series) and the live IP auction hosted by Ocean Tomo. Let me know if you will be in SF this Thursday or Friday and would like to meet.
Rumors have been flying about the economy's negative effect on sale prices for the IP in this auction's catalog, and on IP value in general. This event will be a great indicator of the economic ... Read More
Mar 11, 2009
March 26-27 - Ocean Tomo commences its IP Markets 2009 campaign with their Spring IP Auction at the Ritz in San Francisco. This auction is important for Ocean Tomo, as they have recently undergone a restructuring, and rumor has it that their Summer and Fall auctions could be postponed due to the economic climate and its possible impact on pricing. The conference begeins on Thursday, with three panel tracks covering IP in M&A, Buying & Selling IP, and Greentech IP and Investing. ... Read More
Mar 5, 2009
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 ... Read More
Jan 19, 2009
Transparency, or the lack thereof, has caused hopeful transactors in the IP market more frustration than Terrell Owens has caused General Managers in the NFL. The sell-side has never had a platform on which to market their rights to all potential buyers, and the buy-side has never had a platform on which complete information is disclosed. This is partly (and to some, wholly) due to the inherent character of intellectual property and its valuation.
The phenomenon of IP Auctions, however, has the potential ... Read More
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. 