Make Money Investing in Intellectual Property

Source: Ocean Tomo

Read "Ocean Tomo Catches the Wave in Valuing Intellectual Property" by Alan Sipress, The Washington Post, May 6, 2007.

I don't post articles focusing on the stock market, but this is an exception. The article in print version included the bar chart shown above indicating the increase in value of intangible capital in US industry in recent years. The article describes the "Ocean Tomo 300 patent index, which uses a novel technique for valuing patents held by companies to assemble what he says is a roster of many of the country's most innovative enterprises." The Claymore/Ocean Tomo Patent ETF is a mutual fund that tracks the Ocean Tomo 300 index.

"Ocean Tomo is not the only company that's tried to measure the value of patents. The Patent Board, a Chicago research firm, publishes a scorecard ranking companies based on the number and quality of their patents across 17 different industries."

Comment: "If indeed we are entering a Knowledge Economy, then this kind of thinking is going to make money for some people." JAD