Wednesday May 24, 8:23 am Eastern Time
Internet Capital, IBM to create online marketplace
WAYNE, Pa., May 24 (Reuters) - Internet Capital Group Inc.(NasdaqNM:ICGE - news) and IBM Corp.
(NYSE:IBM - news) said Wednesday they are forming a new company to create an online marketplace for
buyers and sellers of intellectual property.
The new company, which will be based in Chicago, has bought IBM's existing Intellectual Property Network (IPN) as the foundation for an online
marketplace that will let users search, analyse, buy, sell and license patents and other intellectual property in several industries.
The expanded site will launch in the third quarter. IBM plans to list more than 25,000 of its own patents and it is expected that other technology
firms will be active participants in the exchange, which will be open to any industry.
It also plans to offer legal support, insurance and escrow accounts via its new web site, the companies said in a statement. Internet Capital Group
said the new company will position it to capitalise on an estimated $100 billion market opportunity in the intellectual property market.
The marketplace will be hosted by IBM Global Services and will use IBM's universal database technology and e-commerce enabled software. |
