Perot invests in equity fund which buys companies with undervalued patent portfolios

H. Ross Perot is the principal investor in a $200 million private equity fund (Ocean Tomo Capital Fund) set up to buy companies with undervalued patent portfolios--the first time that a private equity fund has been established solely to invest in intellectual property.

The fund, set up by the Chicago merchant bank ICMB Ocean Tomo, will be acquiring or securing controlling stakes in patent-rich companies with revenue between $50 million and $1 billion. Areas of interests include semiconductors, biotech, nanotechnology and software. [hmm, fullerenes, anyone?]

The practice of acquiring intellectual property for profit, also called patent trolling [?], has been around for some time. However, this is the first time that a prominent investor would throw so much money in the game.

Another player betting on patents is former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold. His company, Seattle-based Intellectual Ventures, behaves more like a patent factory, however, employing inventors and patent lawyers to develop and patent valuable new ideas. [hmmm, seems like he was bidding (unsuccessfully) for patent assets of a bankrupt company in San Francisco earlier this year; behavior of a so-called patent troll?]

Perot, the maverick two-time presidential candidate, has a history of betting on promising technology.


[from Tomas Kellner, Forbes.com, Aug. 9]