Is The Economy Taking A Bite Out Of Abusive Patent Lawsuits?
We’ve never been a fan of Ocean Tomo, the “patent auction” shop that was seen as something of a clearing house for lawyers and patent hoarders looking to buy up patents to squeeze money out of other companies. However, in February, we wrote about an article in the Chicago Tribune insisting that the tough economy was increasing patent sales as companies looked to squeeze more value out of their patent portfolios. We questioned the article, noting that it showed absolutely no proof whatsoever that sales were up — other than a claim (with no data) from an Ocean Tomo exec, who had every incentive to make people believe that sales were up. But, in reality, it turns out sales aren’t up. They’re way, way, way down. Joe Mullin writes about the latest Ocean Tomo auction that can reasonably be termed a total disaster after sales didn’t just fall, but fell off a cliff: While some folks I spoke to before the auction said they expected sales this year to be down by as much as 50 percent from last
