Chritophe Sevrain envisions his company, TechTransferOnline, one day becoming the Google of intellectual property.
The Troy-based website is one of the largest IP portals in the world and serves as a place where people can list and find intellectual property. The firm has grown to 12 employees after only one year and hopes to add dozens more if it takes off the way Sevrain imagines.
"It could be several hundred one day," Sevrain says.
The website list thousands of patents online, allowing users to search for a particular subject and see what intellectual property there is on it. If they find something that fits their needs, the customers can by it much like someone would on an auction item on eBay.
"Give us the key word of the technology you're looking for and we'll find it," Sevrain says. "Even if we can't find it we'll send you an email if something is listed later on."
Sevrain, a serial entrepreneur who also owns CJPS, expected a slow but steady number of patents to come in over time. Demand to list this has been much bigger with the web site hitting more than 1,000 patents by April (it launched in January) and expectations to hit tens of thousands soon as word spreads.
"We're going to keep growing like crazy," Sevrain says. "This is still a dotcom company and many of them die but this one is taking on a life of its own."
Source: Christophe Sevrain, CEO of TechTransferOnline
Writer: Jon Zemke
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