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
Feb 11, 2010
Things have been warp-speed at the office lately, so I apologize for being about 3 weeks late on this. Better late than never.
Ocean Tomo was asked by Bloomberg Business Week to use their PatentRatings platform to rank the 25 most inventive companies in the world. OT's patented program ranked companies based on the most valuable patent portfolios. Read more about the rankings and the results at Ocean Tomo's press release.
A good James Malackowski quote from the release: "The ultimate value of a patent ... Read More
Jul 31, 2009
I apologize for the break in action. I have been on the road almost continuously since attending last week's ICAP/Ocean Tomo "IP Markets 2009" Summer Auction and Conference in Chicago. Thanks to those who have messaged or emailed in search of the "full report" I promised before the event, I have not been derailed from my mission and will hereby "give the people what they want."
We all know the results of the auction. For the second straight auction, the numbers were disappointing. ... 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
Jun 26, 2009
As I said, the Ocean Tomo brand is still strong, and in fact continues to grow.
Just a week after news hit the fan that Ocean Tomo was selling its transactions practice and would be falling apart soon hereafter (not true), we receive word that Ocean Tomo and French bank Caisse des Dépôts have agreed to a working protocol to develop the first European patent ratings system. No money has yet changed hands as a result of the deal, but it is said ... Read More
Jun 24, 2009
Word came last week that the IP Auction platform that Ocean Tomo had pioneered and built into a world-renowned marketplace for high-profile intellectual property is now in the hands of another company, British information brokers ICAP. According to a press release:
ICAP (IAP.L), the world's premier interdealer broker, announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire the transactions division of Ocean Tomo LLC, the leading Intellectual Capital Merchant Banc® firm, for an initial consideration of US$10 million at closing, comprising $5 million ... 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 31, 2009
Ocean Tomo launched its new website, OTI.com, a site for global IP market data with a touch of community atmosphere to go with it. The site was introduced at the Ocean Tomo Spring 2009 Conference in San Francisco last week with a large display booth that attracted a lot of attention from conference attendees, including myself. The site adds easy patent search tools to a murky market, contributing greatly to the movement for transparency that Ocean Tomo continues to lead. The platform ... 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 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
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. 