The Innovative Partnership Program Office of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., will hold a March 29 auction with ICAP Ocean Tomo LLC of Chicago to sell three NASA-developed technology lots totaling 12 patents.

The patent portfolios include technologies applicable to the software-development industry, robotics, artificial intelligence, industrial process control and wireless sensor networks. These patents hold broad value in any field where a need exists to design highly complex, automated and intelligent systems.

"Intellectual property auctions leverage capabilities and resources toward NASA's goal of increasing the down-to-Earth benefits of its research," said NASA Deputy Chief Technologist James Adams at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "Through innovative uses of intellectual property offerings, NASA aims to accelerate transfer of its technologies."

Goddard's partnership with ICAP Ocean Tomo helps augment NASA's licensing program. The auction platform is considered by many to be the premier live forum for the open and public exchange of intellectual property.

This approach helps NASA to achieve its commitment to disseminate information about technical achievements and promote the use of NASA-sponsored technology development for uses beyond NASA missions. The licensing of NASA technologies has benefitted many industries, including medical, aerospace, automotive and communications.

Norden Huang, a former Goddard researcher, is one such example. Huang invented a set of algorithms for signal processing that were licensed by DynaDx Corporation of Mountain View, Calif. The company uses the licensed NASA technology for medical diagnosis and prediction of problems related to the brain's blood flow, such as stroke, dementia and traumatic brain injury.

"The patent portfolio coming up for auction is truly staggering with regard to the potential scope of its impact," said the Senior Technology Transfer Manager Darryl Mitchell at Goddard.

"The applications range from something as broad as changing how software is created to applications as specific as autonomic management of smoke detector networks in buildings."

To expedite the bidder's assimilation, use and adaptation of the technology, winning bidders will be afforded an opportunity to briefly discuss the technologies with the inventors. Bidders wishing to engage in depth can gain access to the inventor through a reimbursable agreement with NASA.

Detailed descriptions of the capabilities of the patent lots for auction can be found here.