An analysis of the statistics for the Ocean Tomo auction leads to some interesting conclusions. The approximate average sale price for the roughly 90 patents in the reported 26 lots that actually sold was a low, but respectable, $30,000.

However, this number is misleading. Two of the patents, the Ballantyne patent of Lot 30a and the 3Com patent of Lot 19, accounted for nearly $2.4 million dollars of the $2.75 million auction total. Removing those two patents, the average sale price for the other patents that sold is a measly $4,300. This figure is certainly well below the prosecution and maintenance fee costs invested in the patents prior to sale.

The auction may not been a success, but certainly supports the rule of thumb many licensing experts know: about 1 out of 100 patents has significant commercial value. The whole trick is knowing which ones those are, and who to sell them to.