Patent auctions:

 A new market for technology transfer

The recently concluded patent auction is a successful practice in  exploring a new mode for technology transfer. Meanwhile, it sets a precedent in the competitive auction, in large patches, of intellectual property rights from the same technical field by domestic research institutes.

Unlike traditional means of technology transfer, such as agreement transactions or negotiated transactions, patent auction is characterized by a broader coverage, higher transparency and public bidding. However, there are many difficulties and risks in specific practices.

The patent auction was a response to the “Outline of National IP Strategy” and part of the practices in implementing the “Opinions on the IP Strategy of the Capital City”. As part of the “pilot exploration” of the Zhongguancun National Innovation Demonstration Zone, it means much to the improvement of the service system for technology transaction in China...more

 An innovative practice of technical trading patterns

On December 16, 2010, after four months of intense preparation, the first patent auction by the Institute of Computing Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences was held on the trading floor of CTEX. Seventy bid items (90 patents in total), comprising 8 patent portfolios (covering 28 patents), 38 reserve patents and 24 non-reserve patents were at auction.

Representatives from more than 70 bidding enterprises participated. The auction generated a great deal of curiosity, and more than 100 observers from domestic and foreign institutions attended just to observe. After 2 hours’ intense bidding, the first large-scale patent auction was brought to a successful end. Over 28 items were sold at a cumulative price of over 2.5 million Yuan. About 40% of the items up for auction resulted in successful bids. This is nearly 15 percentage points higher than the average turnover rate of patent auctions held in developed countries with mature patent auction models.

The auction was sponsored by ICT, and co-sponsored by CTEX, Beijing Haidian Technology Transfer Center of ICT, Guoxin Xingye and Unitalen. It received extensive support and guidance from the Ministry of Science, State Intellectual Property Office, Beijing Municipal Government, Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office and other government departments...more

 Patent auctions “on and off the stage”

Different from auctions of general assets, the patent auction had its own peculiarities. This was the first large-scale disposal of IT patents by auction in Beijing. It was also the first patent auction for Nalan. Though there had been patent auctions abroad, there were basically no references to make due to institutional and market differences. Therefore, innovation was a must and there were many difficulties in the patent auction.

“At patent auctions buyers are almost exclusively enterprises. Unlike investment in works of art, which has tens of millions of art collectors and enjoys a wide audience base in China, the patent auction was only for IP-related items. Therefore, at the initial stages of solicitation we chose to market by telephone, through face-to-face contacts with key enterprises in the industry and published announcements in newspapers. We also sought support from some public funds, private equity funds and other partners. It can be said that the success of the auction was at least partially attributable to the joint efforts of these partners.” Nalan herself made some big achievements and learned a lot from the patent auction...more

Unitalen services for the patent auction 

During the “First Patent Auction by the Institute of Computing Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences”, Beijing Unitalen Attorneys at Law (Unitalen), one of the organizers of the event, played a particularly eye-catching role.

Reasons behind Engagement with Unitalen

As a patent auction is very complicated, an auction organizer needs to have high professional competency. A joint working group is also needed to comprise technology transfer agencies, auction houses, and top IP legal service providers.

China Technology Exchange (CTEX), a technology transfer agency in patent auction, was engaged by the Institute of Computing Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICT) to seek well-known auction houses and IP legal service providers influential in the technology transfer area in a bid to jointly establish a project team for the patent auction...more

CTEX built an integrated intermediary service platform

The “First Patent Auction by the Institute of Computing Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences” was the first public exhibition of a large number of patents by domestic professional research institutions, and also the first pioneering exploration for marketing scientific and technological achievements by auction. As one of the organizers and sponsors of the auction, China Technology Exchange (CTEX) has brilliantly accomplished the tasks entrusted by the principal and played an irreplaceable role.

The Fourth Party Platform

At the signing ceremony of sold items after the patent auction, Xiong Yan, board chairman of CTEX said, “Shortly after CTEX was established, top Beijing Party leaders, during their research into CTEX’s work, called for vigorous creation of a technology transaction service mode and bold exploration of auction patterns for facilitating technology transaction. This poses a major challege to us.”...more