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Law departments as profit centers: eBay for IP

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To assist their clients, law departments might want to keep in the back of their mind the possibility of offering R&D work, patents, and trademarks for sale on the internet. A company called Global Commerce & Communications has set up a web site as a forum for buying and selling IP online.

According to a short piece in the Twin Cities Global Bus. Quarterly, Vol. 2, Jan 2004 at 3, anyone can browse for free and anyone can post IP on offer at costs of $100 or more. The company claimed a year ago that the IP-transfer market (excluding licensing, I assume) was then worth an estimated $1 billion.

As with recovering monies, this method empowers law departments to monetize its legal prowess (See my post of Nov. 25, 2005 on law departments sharing in recoveries.)