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The good news: You've created a nifty new way to solve aproblem in your business, and you're sure countless otherbusinesses could benefit from knowing your solution. But here'sthe problem: You've spent sleepless nights coming up with thatidea and are ready for some compensation.
In most cases, the majority of benefits derived from suchcreations are lost by the creator. In a few cases, though, manymillions have been made by inventors-for example, Priceline.comfounder Jay Walker, whose idea for a "demand collection"system that matched bargain hunters with surplus inventory gavebirth to a multibillion-dollar business (and a large fortune).
That's a rare exception, sure-but numerous Web-basedintellectual property exchanges could change that at any time. Havean idea and these exchanges will give you a way to test the watersfor buyers without sacrificing control over the idea.
Which Web sites will eventually dominate this market? Certainly,for now, the slickest is The Patent & License Exchange(www.pl-x.com), but beforelisting there, be sure to check out Intellectual Property Exchange(www.ipei.co.jp/index-e.html)and yet2.com.
Expect this marketplace to be fast-moving. What's true todaymight not be true when this article is in your hands. Best advice:If intellectual property captures your fancy, check out as manyexchanges as possible.
Robert McGarvey writes on business, psychology and managementtopics for several national publications. To reach him online withyour questions or comments, e-mail rjmcgarvey@aol.com.
