The Chicago-based Intellectual Property Exchange International — the first financial exchange to sell patent licensing rights — is poised to launch early next year. In return for a share of the revenues, the exchange will promote the patent and sell the license rights in individual units issued like stocks. The exchange also will enforce its protections with litigation, when necessary, and publish sales and price data online. “It’s like an initial public offering for a patent,” explains Jim Malackowski, chief executive of Ocean Tomo, the Chicago-based merchant bank backing the exchange. The exchange has soft commitments from four or five companies and expects to have 10 to 15 “industry leaders” pledged by February, according to Gerard Pannekoek, CEO of the patent exchange and former president of the Chicago Climate Exchange.
Original Article: Patent exchange to launch in 2010 | Technology Transfer Tactics
