NASA was selling some of its patents a week ago according to Robert McMillan in a March 29, 2012 article for Wired Enterprise,
Psst. If you’re thinking of getting into the intelligent smoke-detector business or building a swarm of nano-bots, NASA has a few patents for you.
In fact, you might even get them at a bargain price. They’re up for auction Thursday [March 29, 2012] in Los Angeles, at an event run by the patent-selling company ICAP Patent Brokerage. NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is listing them as part of a pilot program that has been running for the past four years, trying to make its space-aged technology available to the public.
Who wouldn’t want a crack at the NASA patent, “Swarm Autonomic Agents with Self-Destruct Capability?”
You can still find the listing of patents up for auction here at ICAP’s (patent brokerage) Spring 2012 catalog page. I was amused to note that the NASA patents were classified as ‘open outcry’ auction items. That’s exactly what it sounds like, from the Wikipedia essay (I have removed footnotes, etc.),
An English auction is a type of auction, whose most typical form is the “open outcry” auction. The auctioneer opens the auction by announcing a Suggested Opening Bid, a starting price or reserve for the item on sale and then accepts increasingly higher bids from the floor consisting of buyers with a possible interest in the item. Unlike sealed bid auctions, “open outcry” auctions are “open” or fully transparent as the identity of all bidders is disclosed to each other during the auction. The highest bidder at any given moment is considered to have the standing bid, which can only be displaced by a higher bid from a competing buyer. If no competing bidder challenges the standing bid within a given time frame, the standing bid becomes the winner, and the item is sold to the highest bidder at a price equal to his or her bid.
I also found that this event is more than just an auction, from the Spring 2012 Schedule page,
Spring 2012 Auction Full Event Schedule
Navigating the Catalina Channel: The ICAP Patent Brokerage Summit on IP Strategy and 15th ICAP Ocean Tomo IP Auction
Tuesday, March 27
Welcome Reception Lobby Bar- (7:00pm-9:00pm)
Wednesday, March 28
Registration Opens (8:00am)
Breakfast (8:00am – 9:00am) – Catalina
General Session (9:15am – 12:00p) – Point Vicente
Opening Remarks and Welcome from Dean Becker, CEO ICAP Patent Brokerage
Every Company is an IP Company – The “Glassybaby Syndrome”
Louis Carbonneau; The Point Law
Take-away: Every company needs an IP Strategy
Practical Aspects of Intellectual Property as Strategic Business Tools – Swords & Shields
Speaker: Peter McDermott; Banner, Witcoff
Take-away: Co-managing prosecution and litigation – an integration strategy
Lunch (12:00pm – 1:30pm) – Catalina
Breakout Sessions (1:30pm – 3:30pm)
Commercialization & Monetization Strategies to Drive Business Value – Point Vicente 1
Moderator: John Pryor; ICAP Patent Brokerage
Building Business Value Through IP Management – Point Vicente 2
Moderator: Dr. Elvir Causevic, Ocean Tomo
IP Marketing to Build Business Value – Point Vicente 3
Moderator: Jennifer Wolfe, Wolfe SBMC; Author Brand ReWired – invited
Networking Break (3:30pm – 4:30pm) – Catalina
Breakout Sessions Continue (4:45pm – 5:45pm)
Commercialization & Monetization Strategies to Drive Business Value – Point Vicente 1
Moderator: John Pryor, ICAP Patent Brokerage
Building Business Value Through IP Management – Point Vicente 2
Moderator: Dr. Elvir Causivic, Ocean Tomo
IP Marketing to Build Business Value – Point Vicente 3
Moderator: Jennifer Wolfe, Wolfe SBMC; Author Brand ReWired – invited
Dinner (6:30pm cocktails, followed by dinner) – Terranea
Thursday, March 29
Registration Opens (8:00am)
Breakfast (8:00am – 9:00am) – Catalina
General Session (9:15am – 12:30pm) – Point Vicente
Building Company Value Through IP – Lessons from Mom, Pop, David and Goliath
Speaker: Louis Foreman; Enventys
Take-away: In the area of IP Strategy, one size does not fit all
Flat World: International Patent Strategy
Speaker: Robert Cantrell: ThinkIP Strategy
Take-away: Managing global Freedom to Operate
Breakout Session Reports
Commercialization & Monetization – Moderator: John Pryor, ICAP Patent Brokerage
IP Management Roundtable – Moderator: Dr. Elvir Causivic, Ocean Tomo
IP Marketing to Build Business Value – Moderator: Jennifer Wolfe, Wolfe SBMC; Author Brand ReWired – invited
Lunch (12:30 – 1:30) – Catalina
Auction (Doors Open 1:45pm; Auction begins 2:00pm) – Ballroom
They charged a $1495 US registration fee with hotel accommodation additional to the fee. You may want to start saving for the next event now.
I wonder if anyone bid on the ‘swarmbots’ and if so, who? Finally, if I were to hazard a guess, I’d say these folks are firmly committed to patents as a means of control rather than as a means of stimulating innovation.