Ocean Tomo to Re-enter Live Intellectual Property (IP) Auction Market
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) October 06, 2014 -- Ocean Tomo, LLC, the Intellectual Capital Merchant Banc™ firm, announced today from the annual meeting of the Licensing Executives Society its re-entry into the live, intellectual property (IP) auction market.
“We are very excited to announce the launch of our next generation auction platform from San Francisco, the site of our inaugural intellectual property auction” said Chairman & CEO James E. Malackowski. “After several months of working with the corporate buyer and seller community to define the parameters of the auction, we are now accepting submissions from patent owners wanting to sell high quality technology patents in an effective, transparent forum for commerce.”
Ocean Tomo has deep experience in this area having created the live multi-lot IP auction marketplace in 2006. The firm exited the auction business in 2009, but has now returned to the business it pioneered in response to input from the patent acquisition and divestiture community that it would again benefit from a more transparent process for the purchase and sale of patents. The firm’s new offering will incorporate a number of changes requested by operating company buyers and sellers.
“The demands of the IP community are much more sophisticated and demanding now than they were eight years ago”, said James Trueman, the head of Ocean Tomo’s Transactions business unit. “We spoke with dozens of buyers across North America, Europe, and Asia ranging from mid-size to Fortune 100 operating companies with combined acquisition budgets in the billions, and we heard a few common themes loud and clear.” The strongest among those themes is a “less is more approach” focusing on quality.
“Our needs have evolved when it comes to acquisitions. Today, we are focused on quality rather than quantity and the patents we are looking to acquire must meet very specific objectives”, said head of acquisitions at a Fortune 250 technology company. “We welcome Ocean Tomo to provide us with offerings that are supported by strong ‘evidence-of-use’ because my team doesn't have the time to evaluate and prioritize everything that comes across my desk.”
Ocean Tomo, which is already back in the market for private IP transactions, has concluded that buyers and sellers alike valued and want to see the return of a simple, transparent system that provides clear timelines for sale, equal access, and price discovery.
“I was disappointed to see the market move away from the open environment that Ocean Tomo created. I like the auction format because it is straight forward and provides a reasonable, well-defined amount of time for diligence” said the head of patent acquisitions at a Fortune 100 technology company. “I also like the real-time market intelligence a live auction provides when bidding while being able to see the price at which other patents sell. This helps me value future acquisition opportunities.”
“An auction can help close a sale faster than a private transaction because the market knows there is a fixed date on which they will be able to acquire a portfolio,” said the head of patent monetization for a Fortune 100 company, “which will reduce the time to monetization while helping me meet my revenue targets.”
Ocean Tomo plans to hold live auctions four times a year, approximately quarterly, with special purpose events in between. No more than 25 lots are planned for each auction, significantly less than the 100-plus lots offered early in the firm’s auction history. The firm will utilize an open outcry auction format for most lots, but has plans to use different auction bidding models for unique lots that will be shared with the IP community at a future date. Ocean Tomo plans to broadcast all events to a global audience with remote bidding which reduces travel commitments for both buyers and sellers. Diligence will again be through access to an on-line data room as well as facilitated interviews with sellers.
“Live auctions are an important part of a complete transactions platform supported by the firm. We are unique in our ability to offer a range of solutions to our clients rather than the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach others presume”, said James Trueman. “Buyers have expressed an interest in a telepresence remote access auction to lower the barriers to participation. Many of our buyers also prefer the security and privacy of their own offices in order to discuss their offers while an auction is in progress. These benefits -- in addition to others that will be announced shortly -- will encourage a larger community of both buyers and sellers. It’s pretty exciting.”
Ocean Tomo’s first new auction will be held in the Spring of 2015. Submissions from patent owners looking to sell their patents are now being accepted at transactions(at)oceantomo(dot)com. Buyers who wish to register to bid or who have questions may contact Ocean Tomo at newmarkets(at)oceantomo(dot)com.
About Ocean Tomo
Established in 2003, Ocean Tomo, LLC, the Intellectual Capital Merchant Banc™ firm, provides industry leading financial products and services related to intellectual property including financial expert testimony, valuation, strategy consulting, proprietary research products, investment services, risk management products, innovation management services and transaction brokerage. Ocean Tomo assists clients – corporations, law firms, governments and institutional investors – in realizing Intellectual Capital Equity® value broadly defined.
Spanning five distinct yet complementary lines of business, our comprehensive suite of products and services is built upon more than two decades of experience valuing intellectual property in the most rigorous of venues – State, Federal and international courts. Our financial, market and technical experts provide a unique understanding of the contributory value of proprietary innovation. This is the cornerstone of our business. This insight permeates every practice.
Headquartered in Chicago, Ocean Tomo has offices in Greenwich, Houston, Irvine, San Francisco and Seattle. Subsidiaries of Ocean Tomo include: Ocean Tomo Transactions, LLC; Ocean Tomo Risk Management, LLC; Ocean Tomo Asset Management LLC; OTI Data Networks, LLC; Patent Marking, LLC; and Ocean Tomo Capital, LLC – publisher of the Ocean Tomo 300® Patent Index family. Ocean Tomo is the founder of the Intellectual Property Exchange International (IPXI), Inc., creator of the live public open cry auction marketplace for intellectual property as well as the exclusive source for Ocean Tomo Ratings™.
Kristi Stathis, Ocean Tomo, LLC, http://www.OceanTomo.com, +1 (312) 377-4862, [email protected]
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