Photo: Robert F. Kusel

SOLD! A recent auction in Chicago had all the theatrical spectacle of a Christie's or Sotheby's art sale, except that the items on the block were 67 lots of patents and trademarks. The company running the auction, Chicago-based Ocean Tomo, is injecting some glamour into the stodgy world of patent acquisition and hoping its auctions will speed up the typically protracted process. This auction's big winner was one Westport, Conn.—based firm, Image Telecommunications Corp., which walked away with a little more than US $3 million for its video-on-demand patents. Though potential buyers and sellers alike remain skeptical of the auction model, such multimillion-dollar sales suggest that intellectual property auctions may be catching on [for more, go to www.spectrum.ieee.org/jun07/ipauction].

SPEEDING BULLET Taiwan's first high-speed railway network finally entered service in early March, following years of controversy about its impact on a semiconductor park and allegations of improprieties in government decision making [“Taiwan's High-Tech Hubbub,” August 2006, News]. The train, built by Taiwan Shinkansen Corp., the local subsidiary of the Japanese bullet train maker, enables passengers to complete the 345-kilometer journey between the capital, Taipei, in the north and Kaohsiung, the largest city in the south, in 90 minutes. The line is built largely on viaducts and through tunnels and can carry 60 000 passengers daily among eight stations.