Announcing a New Service for Buying and Selling Patents

On July 1, 2010, a new way of purchasing and selling patents was born: www.terracaptus.com. TerraCaptus is the first on-line patent auction website of its kind, providing a venue in which patents can be easily listed and auctioned in an innovative and intuitive on-line system - and without any fees or costs until the patent is sold.

In TerraCaptus' on-line patent auctions, the costs of setting up and conducting each auction are borne by TerraCaptus, and other costs normally associated with in-person patent auctions (e.g., for travel, lodging, and other logistical issues) are eliminated. In this manner, TerraCaptus' web-based auction platform has the ability to increase the number of potential bidders for any given patent.

The TerraCaptus patent auction model also eliminates traditional up-front patent auction costs, such as costs associated with identification of and communication with potential buyers, advertisement of the patent for sale, preparation of the auction, and conducting of the auction. TerraCaptus charges nothing for these services, and instead is compensated from the proceeds of sale of the patent. Also, TerraCaptus is only compensated from auctions that result in a sold patent, and receives compensation only when the patent seller receives payment for the patent sold.

Using TerraCaptus, potential buyers of each patent listed for sale are identified by TerraCaptus using proprietary software and (optionally) recommendations from the patent owner. These potential buyers are contacted by TerraCaptus, and are invited to a scheduled auction hosted on TerraCaptus' website. Each TerraCaptus on-line auction is public, utilizes a unique interface on TerraCaptus' website to easily enable registered parties to bid, and is open for viewing by parties who have not registered to bid.

The pioneering TerraCaptus on-line patent auction system promises to revolutionize the way patent buyers and sellers perform their transactions, bringing a new level of liquidity to this valuable class of assets.