What could be an important blockchain patent covering fractional trading of shares of multiple asset classes has been offered for sale at auction as an NFT by OpenSea Systems.
The auction for the patent that addresses fractional online trading is still in process. The apparent reserve, $2,337,078.00, has not been attained. The sales ends on October 5, 2021.
Some believe that tokenization of patents through Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) represents the future of IP transactions, fractional and otherwise. It is hoped that NFTs can provide greater information transparency and pricing efficiency.
“True Return Systems LLC and Accu 2.0 LLC are preparing the auction of US Patent No. 8,538,860 on the blockchain in the form of an NFT (Non-Fungible Token),” a press release from the company stated on August 17th.
“The auction begins on or about Tuesday, August 17th, and will be available here on Opensea.io. The NFT is titled “US Patent No. 8,538,860 Over Robinhood et al. Fractional Share Platforms”.
Detailed information relating to the Patent, the technology, and other True Return Systems properties is available at truereturnsystems.com. True Return currently appears to offer just two patents.
‘Foundational Solutions’
The Patent, filed in 2011 and 2012, is based on foundational solutions to longstanding problems in online brokerage systems including leveraged, inverse, fractional and other 
fixed-price strategy arrangements. The patent is part of a portfolio owned by Accu 2.0 LLC.
“The brokerage firms adopting fractional share systems have consistently highlighted their innovation [sic]. These platforms enable each customer to purchase their own unique entry point into $1 of Tesla (‘TSLA’) shares, and their $1 unit (different from other $1 units) will faithfully track the real-time price changes of Tesla shares – all while benefiting from an efficient aggregation within the sponsor’s Tesla shares inventory.”
With the Patent NFT, the purchaser will receive an executed agreement transferring to the purchaser all of rights, title, and interest in and to the Patent, the press release continues. This includes the right to sue for past, present, and future infringement of the Patent and to collect for damages from any past infringement of the Patent.
This type of NFT appears to differ from a “collectible” like the specific code to an iconic Lebron James dunk or artifact like an invention disclosure or work of art, which provide no interest in the copyright or ability to license. The ‘860 sale will apparently result in full ownership of underlying rights.
The ‘860 NFT is offered for sale on OpenSea, as is one other patent, #10,025,797, “Unlockable Prospective Licensee and Litigation Candidate Content.” It has an apparent minimum bid of $5,089,259.40 which also has yet to be met.
The title of ‘860 is “System and method for the creation and rebalancing of beneficial interests in index tracking and other investment vehicles over multiple market periods using fixed or regularly resetting prices to calibrate outstanding interest counts with liquidation entitlements.”
IP CloseUp’s attempts to access the ‘860 patent on the OpenSea website resulted in a rapid scroll of tiff images that could be seen but not read. For those interested, content of the complete USPTO patent can be found here.
Celebrity Angels
True Return Systems is based in New Canaan, CT. OpenSea, founded in 2017, has more than 300,000 users. In addition to A-list venture investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, the platform’s list of angels include Mark Cuban, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Durant and senior executives or founders of Pinterest, Airbnb, Coinbase, Reddit and other tech companies.
Image source: opensea.io*
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