Re:Seven facts about selling patents (Score 1)

There are around a dozen competitors to this site. Patents have usually been licensed exclusively to one party in the past, but now patent owners are beginning to license them non-exclusively, much like most software is licensed. Licenses can be written to allow any type of use of the patent (if the price is right).

Universities often license the rights in a patent prior to its issue, because companies want to establish exclusive rights to an invention in order to gain funding for the development of that right. I suspect there are fewer opportunities to buy a patent outright than there are to acquire a license.

Patents are good for 20 years from the date of application, although much negotiation goes on prior to issue. Fees are due periodically throughout the patent's life as well.

It will be interesting to see how successful these sites are -- how well they drive potential licensees to their site.