Last week I talked about a patent auction that included barcode(and RFID) to Internet intellectual property.
I had a chance to read all 28 of them I am providing their links. Some good reading.
Ocean Tomo, the auctioneer, will not reveal the purchaser or the amount. They do play an interesting role going forward though. This is all part of the New American Business Model
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For a detailed summary of each patent visit USPTO
To see the entire catalog of what patents were auctioned off.
8 comments:
US-based West End Laboratories, the research arm of LDC Security, has developed a special RFID tag zapper designed to kill the RFID chip preventing readers from performing unwanted scanning and tracking of people or goods.
(PRWEB) November 18, 2004 -- According to the company, because information stored on RFID tags can be read by anyone, they may pose privacy threats to customers when deployed in retail environments, and have already triggered a wave of consumer outcry.
�In a naive, RFID-enabled world without technical forethought, there is risk that sensitive information could be visible in secret to anyone with an RFID reader,� said Le Derec Caden, director and chief scientist with West End Laboratories in the US.
�Moreover, the unique serial numbers emitted by RFID tags could be used to track people and objects surreptitiously. For businesses too, RFID introduces new privacy and security risks � and a whole new dimension to corporate espionage. These concerns have motivated our scientists to work on a new generation of technical solutions that match these challenges.�
Scott,
I infer from what you have said that this block of patents has indeed been sold at auction.
Have you established that this is true?
These patents are all assigned to Motorola.
Why would Motorola sell such patents? I'd think they'd want them to protect their own position -- at minimum they should want to make sure that they, at least, can develop cell phones with bar code capabilities with some defensive patent protection.
A quote from Ocean Tomo..
"Ocean Tomo has strict buyer confidentiality policies"
You are seeing more companies that are interested in selling IP that doesn't fit in with their current business.
Most of these patents were filed years ago, and the company's vision today is a lot different than when they were filed.
Why not monetize them?
Scott, I appreciate that the identity of a buyer and the amount might be confidential.
But whether or not something was purchased would hard to be kept secret -- after all, the patents couldn't stay on the market if they were already sold.
Has Ocean Tomo said that the patents were in fact sold, that you know of?
If my business revolved around barcodes and connection to the Net, I would be interested in knowing too.
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