The first intellectual property rights auction in Europe will be held in Munich

Posted: May 13, 2007
The first intellectual property rights auction in Europe will be held in Munich
(Nanowerk News) The International Herald Tribune runs a story today about the first intellectual property auction in Europe next Tuesday. The event has attracted the interest of 84 sellers who are trading licenses and patents for technologies ranging from industrial coating machinery to treatments for psoriasis and skin cancer.
Even Bayer, the large chemical conglomerate, is willing to experiment. On Tuesday, it will auction off a license for electrochromic systems, a nanotechnology used to tint windows and enable car mirrors to be used as digital displays. Besides royalties, Lothar Steiling, the company's chief patent counsel, said Bayer wants to cut the cost of maintaining 80,000 patents.

Source: International Herald Tribune