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TechTransferOnline takes crown of world's largest technology database

Thursday, September 18, 2008

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Christophe Sevrain once had dreams that his company, TechTransferOnline,
would become the Google of intellectual property. Those dreams are becoming
reality far quicker than he hoped.

Sevrain now claims his Troy-based website is the largest IP portal in the world. Right now it has somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 patents, as well as other pieces of intellectual property. And even more floods in as you read this. TechTransfer added 7,000 in the last week alone.

"We add, literally, thousands of patents to it monthly, almost weekly," Sevrain says. That's what is so incredible about it.

The website, which employs about a dozen people, lists patents online, allowing users to search for a particular subject and see what intellectual property claims have been made. If they find something that fits their needs, the customers can then buy it much like an auction item on eBay.

Sevrain, a serial entrepreneur who also owns CJPS, expected a slow but steady number of patents to come in over time. Demands for listings had been much bigger than expected, with the website hitting more than 1,000 patents by April. Since then, it has taken off like gangbusters, attracting big names like Johns Hopkins University and Berkeley National Laboratory.

The firm has had to upgrade and add more servers to keep up with all of the traffic and keep the website running quickly.

"Now it's super fast," Sevrain says.

Almost as fast as the wave of patents being put on it.

Source: Christophe Sevrain, CEO of TechTransferOnline
Writer: Jon Zemke