Tangible IP

What Tangible IP does

Tangible IP, LLC is a Seattle-headquartered patent brokerage and intellectual property strategic advisory firm founded in 2011. The company brokers the sale and acquisition of patent portfolios and provides offensive and defensive IP strategy counsel to Fortune 500 companies, SMEs, investors, and individual inventors across technology, telecommunications, industrial, semiconductor, and cloud sectors. Tangible IP is neither a law firm nor a patent assertion entity, a positioning that enables constructive dialogue with industry leaders and prospective buyers. Since inception, the firm has brokered over 5,000 patents and reports having returned tens of millions of dollars to inventors, shareholders, and patent owners; its roster includes nearly 50 Fortune 500 clients such as Google, HP, IBM, Nokia, Siemens, Honeywell, Osram, TiVo, Carrier, RealNetworks, and OVHcloud.

The firm's core offering set comprises Patent Brokerage (transactional commissions on sale/acquisition mandates), IP Strategic Advisory (FTO analyses, offensive and defensive IP strategy development), FTO Analysis as a standalone module, the IP DealStream Compact Portfolio Exchange (launched August 2025) for small-to-medium portfolio transactions, Distressed IP Monetization services for bankrupt and insolvent entities, and the Blockchain IP Fund (launched September 2022) for blockchain patent investment vehicles. Distribution is relationship-based and consultative: the CEO maintains an IP Market Insights newsletter reaching over 20,000 subscribers and a high-frequency LinkedIn presence, while senior leadership speaks at industry events globally.

Tangible IP earns revenue through two primary streams: (1) transaction fees / commissions on successfully brokered patent sales and acquisitions, and (2) professional services fees for strategic IP advisory, FTO analyses, and portfolio evaluation engagements. Pricing is custom-quoted per engagement rather than publicly disclosed. The firm is privately held, organized as an LLC with no external investors, parent company, subsidiaries, or disclosed funding rounds identified, and is led by Founder and CEO Louis Carbonneau and SVP Erika Warner, both consecutively recognized in the IAM Strategy 300 Global Leaders from 2021 through 2025.

Name

Tangible IP

Legal name

Tangible IP, LLC

Website

https://tangibleip.biz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Tangible IP is a Seattle-based patent brokerage and IP strategic advisory firm founded in 2011 that has brokered over 5,000 patents for nearly 50 Fortune 500 clients, including Google, IBM, Nokia, and Siemens, across technology, telecom, industrial, and cloud sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Patent Brokerage and IP Advisory Services

NAICS

Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except Copyrighted Works) (533)

SIC

Patent Owners & Lessors (6794)

akta.pro primary industry

IP Licensing, Transactions & Technology Transfer (BPAHAMAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

IP Due Diligence & Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) Analysis (BPAHAMAG), Intellectual Property Valuation (patents, trademarks, software, royalties) (FSAEAHAL)

Keywords

• Patent brokerage
• IP advisory
• Patent transactions
• Patent strategy consulting
• Intellectual property services

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Patent Brokerage Commissions: Tangible IP earns commissions/fees on successful patent transactions. They broker the sale and acquisition of patent portfolios for clients, returning tens of millions of dollars back to inventors, shareholders and patent owners. They have successfully brokered over 5000 patents.
2. IP Strategic Advisory Services: The company provides strategic IP advisory services to Fortune 500s, SMEs, startups, and investors including FTO analyses, IP strategy development, and tactical guidance. They have conducted FTOs for clients in Automotive, Metal Extraction, Semiconductor, and Water Management technology domains.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Tangible IP is a patent brokerage and intellectual property advisory firm that facilitates the sale and acquisition of high-quality patent assets on behalf of clients and provides strategic IP advisory services. The firm has brokered the sale of more than 5,000 patents and serves Fortune 500 companies, SMEs, investors, and inventors globally with patent transactions, FTO analyses, IP strategy development, and distressed IP monetization. It also operates the IP DealStream Compact Portfolio Exchange program for trading small-to-medium patent portfolios.

Product overview

Tangible IP operates as a patent brokerage and intellectual property advisory firm offering a unified platform of services centered on patent transactions and strategic IP guidance. The core offerings include Patent Brokerage (facilitating patent sales and acquisitions for clients including Fortune 500 companies and SMEs) and IP Strategic Advisory (providing tailored offensive and defensive IP strategies). Supporting services include FTO Analysis for evaluating freedom to operate risks, the IP DealStream Compact Portfolio Exchange for small-to-medium portfolio transactions, IP Market Updates newsletter reaching 20,000+ subscribers, and Distressed IP Monetization services for bankrupt entities. The company has brokered over 5,000 patents and serves clients such as Google, IBM, Nokia, Honeywell, and Siemens.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IP DealStream: A new IP DealStream: Compact Portfolio Exchange program launched in August 2025 for trading small patent portfolios

Products and services

• Patent Brokerage Facilitates the sale and acquisition of high-quality patent assets for clients including Fortune 500 companies, SMEs, investors, and inventors, leveraging a deep buyer-seller network and producing first-rate executive summaries and marketing materials.
• IP Strategic Advisory Provides strategic intellectual property consulting services including offensive and defensive IP strategies tailored to client size and budget, covering portfolio evaluation and tactical IP guidance.
• FTO Analysis Freedom-to-Operate analysis comparing a client's products or planned products against existing and pending patents in the same field, delivered to clients in Automotive, Metal Extraction, Semiconductor, and Water Management technology domains.
• IP DealStream: Compact Portfolio Exchange A compact portfolio exchange program launched by Tangible IP for buying and selling small-to-medium sized patent portfolios efficiently through a more streamlined brokerage format.
• Distressed IP Monetization Specialized brokerage service for liquidating IP assets held by bankrupt startups, trustees, receivers, and investors seeking to monetize distressed patent portfolios.
• Blockchain IP Fund An IP Fund program aimed at aggregating blockchain-related patent assets for investment purposes.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 5000 patents successfully brokered since inception
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ocean Tomo (JLL IP Valuation & Advisory): Part of JLL, Ocean Tomo operates patent brokerage, IP valuation, and auction services for corporate clients, making it the most direct head-to-head competitor in the IP transactions market that Tangible IP leads.
• MDB Capital Holdings: MDB Capital is an IP-focused investment bank that brokers patent transactions and provides IP valuation and strategic advisory—overlapping directly with Tangible IP's brokerage and IP advisory offerings.
• IPotential Group: IPotential is a patent brokerage and advisory firm focused on helping patent owners monetize portfolios, directly competing with Tangible IP in serving SMEs, inventors, and Fortune 500 sellers.
• 284 Partners (Allied Security Trust): 284 Partners advises patent owners on transactions and portfolio strategy; the firm even retained Tangible IP for IP3 portfolio brokerage, confirming them as a direct counterpart in the patent transactions ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• IAM (Intellectual Asset Management) / IPH Group: IAM Media and its parent publish the IAM Strategy 300 that recognizes Tangible IP leaders and operates across the broader IP strategy/information ecosystem as a multi-product incumbent in the same market category.
• Acacia Research Group: Acacia is a long-standing IP investment and assertion entity that participates in patent acquisitions and licensing, operating at a larger scale and providing indirect competition for transactional IP mandates.
• RPX Corporation: RPX is a defensive patent aggregator that acquires and licenses patents for member companies, touching the same buyer and seller ecosystem as Tangible IP from a larger, structured-platform angle.

Emerging players

• GreyB: GreyB provides patent research, FTO, and IP strategy services using AI-assisted workflows, overlapping with Tangible IP's FTO and strategic advisory offerings while applying a tech-enabled delivery model.
• IPlytics: IPlytics is a patent analytics and marketplace platform serving buyers and sellers of patent assets, an emerging digital player that addresses adjacent transaction-discovery needs to Tangible IP's brokerage.
• Bonamark Patents: Bonamark is a smaller patent brokerage and monetization firm serving individual inventors and SMEs, providing a comparable but more narrowly focused alternative to Tangible IP's brokerage services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/louiscarbonneau

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tangible IP