Obstacles

1 Rebecca_2012: Evaluating the value of patent is a major challenge. Unlike the auction of antiques, whose value can be estimated based on knowledge of its authenticity, age and quality, the value of a patent can not be subjected to a unified standard. There are some patent evaluation systems which take into consideration of the technology, the legal environment and the market. But I still consider the work difficult because the size of the target market is hard to predict. The evaluation is hard to handle while the risk is high. Maybe the bidding enterprises will take a conservative stand at first. It may need some entities to play the role of “the first crab eater” as the old saying goes in China. Only after this pioneer actually benefits from the auction and the public becomes aware of the benefit, will people slowly begin to accept the value of a patent auction.

2 Xiang Ming:I hope more information can be provided to the potential buyers. They must have sufficient information and time to prepare for the auction so as to increase the possibility of placing a winning bid. The information should include patent status, comparisons of related techniques, analysis of possible applications, potential value etc. All basic materials which can be open to the public should be prepared ahead of time to make it easier for potential buyers to conduct further analysis and evaluation.

3 Soulmate-feel your feelings: A patent can only be used after it is sold. Personally, I think Chinese people are very intelligent, they have many brilliant inventions, but they have failed to make good use of them. As a result, these inventions were filed, received patents and were put into practice in other counties. This really makes the Chinese people upset. Here I want to take the opportunity to give my modest advice; we should update people with more information about IP infringement cases, which would increase people’s IP protection awareness.

Supports

4 Luo Mingxiong: I am looking forward to the new auction! I also hope that the preliminary work will be more sufficient in order to guarantee a better auction result next time!

5 Lawyer Yu Guofu: In my opinion, IP assets are very suitable for auctions. Firstly, the value of the same IP asset varies very much as the bidding subject differs. An auction which complies with the principle of “open bidding, the highest bidder wins” could allow the potential competitors to fight for the bidding item, so that the IP asset can be transferred to whoever needs it most and would make the best use of it. Secondly, since the assignee or the licensee haspaid a high price, they will tend to be more active in commercializing the asset.

6 Diaoxiao: The patent auction helps patents serve industrial production and inspires more practical technology inventions, meanwhile decreasing the number of junk patents.

7 YY-father: Patents, as intangible assets, should have the potential of being auctioned like tangible assets, even at high prices!

Doubts

8 You Yunting: Personally I don’t see a patent as a very suitable subject for practical auction because each patent is developed with a certain aim. If it is a scientific institute who wants to hold such auctions, then I think it should focus more on the market at the beginning of its R&D works.

9 Andy Yan Patent: The patent market has developed rapidly, but it is still far from being mature. The sellers and the buyers can not exchange information effectively; the market is fragmented. The Apple v. Proview case showed that this kind of transactions is professional and complicated, while the patent purchasing cases such as the Nortel case, the Motorola case and the HTC case shows that the timing of the transaction plays a decisive role in patents’ price and value.

10 Fei Sang: Currently, auctions of technology and patent still face an under-whelmed attitude in the market. If a more direct and influential mode could be adopted in the transaction, I believe many technologies and patents would meet their buyers soon, and would therefore enter the market quicker.

11 Fntalentipr: I don’t think the bidding items in a patent auction need evaluation—the value of the items should depend on how much they could contribute to the purchasing company. Therefore, it is the bidders who should evaluate the patent in the first place. For example, if a patent finds no interested entities, it is worthless. However, if a bidder recognizes its commercial values, the bidder could estimate the value this patent would bring to the company and then pay the patent holder a certain proportion of it. If the buyer fails to estimate fairly, they could ask a third party to do the evaluation.

Practices

12 Sui Xueqing: With regard to technology transfer, ICT has done a great deal of exploration work with a pioneering spirit. Now that we have already set up such a model in the industry, we should continue along this road.

13 Pan Xueyin: As a scientific research institute which enjoys financial allocation, ICT itself is not capable of operating the market, therefore it needs to rely on professional agencies. This kind of cooperation will be carried on in the future auctions.

14 Luo Haiyong: When one’s invention is turned into productive forces in his/her own hands, he/ she will find that the sense of accomplishment could surpass all the papers he/she has ever composed. The rewarding system not only pays back the inventors with economic benefits, but also forms an invisible competition mechanism which inspires people’s innovative spirit and entrepreneurship.

15 Lawyer Qiantao_ ip-law.cc: At present, the patent auction has already become a new mode of patent transfer and transaction internationally. Companies could apply to auction when conducting technology transfers to increase the success rate.

(Translated by Monica Zhang)