What are You Selling When Selling a
Patent?
A patent is a right to exclude others from practicing your
unique invention. It provides the right to ask the court to
force infringers to pay a reasonable royalty and/or issue an
injunction preventing future infringement. So, the marketability
and value of the patent depends on its infringement status.
You may have noticed that this description of a patent focuses
on legal issues and does not include mention of the strength or
maturity of the underlying technology. This is because the
technology is a different asset to the patent, although the two
can be related. When you are selling the patent, you are not
selling a right to use your technology, but you are selling the
right to prevent others from developing technologies using the
patented invention. Understanding this point can help eliminate
much confusion surrounding the sale of patents.
What do
Buyers Buy When Acquiring a Patent?
Buying a patent, the buyer acquires the right to assert the
patent against infringers. Of course, if the buyer is an
infringer itself, acquisition of the patent removes the
possibility of the buyer being sued for infringement.
Technically, as the patent right is purely exclusionary, the
patent buyer is not acquiring a right to use the invention
itself, as use of this invention may actually involve
infringement of another patent. Imagine that the patent covered
the design of a bicycle, but each of the components of the
bicycle--the wheels, gears, brakes, etc.--were all subject to
separate patents held by others. After buying the patent for the
bicycle design, the acquirer still does not have the right to
build the bicycle as this would involve infringement of the
patents for the wheels, brakes and other components involving
patents held by others. Of course, the best approach if you want
to sell products without fear of patent infringement is to
acquire all the patents with inventions forming components--so
the bicycle manufacturer is advised to acquire all the patents
covering the brakes, wheels and gears along with the patent for
the bicycle design. Holding such a complete portfolio, the
bicycle manufacturer is able to then make, market and sell
bicycles without fear of infringing patents held by others--and
is also able to ask the courts to prevent competitors building
similar bicycles with similar components.
The bicycle example is useful to understand how patents overlap
but is, of course, unrealistically simplistic. In the U.S.,
there are over 400,000 patent applications each year. With so
many patents and applications it is not feasible for a buyer to
acquire every patent that might impact its business.
What Types of
Buyers are Acquiring Patents?
As explained further elsewhere in this document, the motivations
of patent buyers vary and they acquire for a variety of
purposes. However, as a patent is merely a right to exclude
others and enforce in court, buyers can be broadly categorized
as either assertive or defensive. An assertive buyer acquires
patents to enforce against infringers with the view of winning
licensing royalties or an injunction preventing future
production or distribution of infringing products. A defensive
buyer acquires patents they can use in a counter-suit if they
are accused of infringing by another patent holder find
themselves defending a lawsuit. So, both assertive and defensive
buyers acquire patents that they can assert against infringers
in court. The difference is merely when and how the lawsuit is
triggered.
Assertive buyers generally hire armies of lawyers to file
lawsuit and negotiate licensing transactions with infringers.
Organizations that assert patents as their primary business
activity, and do not make or market their own products have
attracted the unfortunate label of patent trolls. However,
there are many forms of organizations that assert patents and
this activity has been part of the business landscape in the
U.S. for decades.
In response to ongoing litigation, defensive buyers are often
operating companies that make and/or sell products in the U.S.
market. Large product-oriented corporations with deep pockets
are the most likely target of the patent asserters, and hence,
are the most active buyers for defensive purposes.
Defensive buyers are grouping together and forming patent pools.
Patent pools involve several corporations pooling funds to
acquire patents that are then licensed to the members of the
consortium. Whether these pools are primarily defensive or
assertive is not yet clear--they are probably both. The stimulus
for joining forces was probably the result of costly defensive
litigation, but with growing stockpiles of patents, it is
inevitable that the pools see compelling opportunities to assert
the patents for profit. Patent pools certainly acquire patents
to take them off the market, and out of the hands of assertive
buyers, but they likely acquire patents that they can assert
themselves.
Assertive buyers, defensive buyers and patent pools form the
vast bulk of the demand for patents today. Of the three, patent
pools are the most active, defensive buyers second and assertive
buyers a distant third in terms of the number of patents
acquired.
How Does the Buying Process Differ For Defensive v.
Assertive Buyers?
Assertive buyers often look to draft the outline for a complete
infringement lawsuit before acquiring a patent. This can take
time and demand a good deal of information from the patent
holder. Defensive buyers are usually less selective and the
process of evaluation can take weeks as opposed to months.
Which
Technology Sectors are Most Active?
The most active sectors for patent sales are high technology
sectors that have seen a good deal of infringement litigation in
the past. Buying activity is currently taking place in areas
such as wireless communications, telephony, flash memory,
semiconductors, ecommerce, Internet and other software
applications.
What is a
Patent Worth and Which Patents are Most Valuable?
Unfortunately, many patent holder are misled by unrealistic
valuation calculations and their expectations in terms of
pricing are unreasonably high. As with any commodity or asset,
the value is driven by what a ready and willing buyer is
prepared to pay. Some websites and valuation firms
unscrupulously prey on inventors and sell valuation reports that
appear very appealing but are not driven by actual buying
activity.
The following valuation reflects actual buying activity seen by
brokers in the U.S. and worldwide and include the thousands of
listings syndicated on the Tynax exchange. The valuations
reflect the sale of a large proportion of the patents sold in
the marketplace during the last 12 months. These prices apply to
issued U.S. patents.
Group A: Patent Value $0.00
Patents that are expired or otherwise found invalid have no
value. As roughly half of litigated patents are found to be
invalid by the court, a large number of issued patents fall into
this category.
Group B: Patent Value $10,000-$30,000 Per
Patent
Valid U.S. patents that do not have particularly broad claims,
are not in a particularly large market and have no licensees and
have not been litigated.
Group C: Patent Value $30,000-$100,000 Per
Patent
If the patents have broad claims or the market is particularly
large and growing, then the price of unlitigated patents can
increase toward the six figure range.
Group D: Patent Value $100,000-$500,000 Per
Patent
Where multiple competing buyers bid to acquire a patent with
strong claims with application in a large growing market, the
price can rise to several hundred thousand dollars.
Group E: Patent Value $500,000-$1m Per
Patent
Generally, the patents that sell for the mid to high six figure
range are those that have been litigated and won, and where
there are known infringers. The price is justified by the
potential royalty stream from such infringers.
Group F: Patent Value S1m+ Per Patent
A patent that has been successfully litigated, is battle tested,
with identified Fortune 500 infringers can sometimes bring a
price in excess of $1m.
Group G: Industry Standard
A very small number of industry standard patents sell for low to
mid seven figure sums. These prices are generally justified by
the huge strategic advantage such a patent offers the owner,
together with the long term potential royalty stream from
infringers/licensees.
Industry standard patents can be found in many high-tech
sectors, especially pharmaceuticals and medical/biotech areas.
How are Pending Continuations and Divisional Applications
Treated?
Pending patent applications are generally too speculative to
justify any value as the patent or some of the claims may never
be approved by the patent office. Buyers are usually not
interested in acquiring individual pending applications until
the claims are allowed and the patent is subsequently issued.
An issued patent can spawn children in the form of continuation
and divisional applications. As these applications are not yet
allowed by the patent examiners, they are somewhat speculative,
however they can add value to the patent. If an issued U.S.
patent is sold together with pending continuation and divisional
children applications, this can increase the value of the issued
patent by 10-25%.
Often a continuation involves broadening the claims of the parent,
so buyers are highly reluctant to acquire parents without
continuations and these are almost always bundled together in
the sale. However, divisional applications are somewhat
different from the parent, involving different inventions, so
they can sometimes be sold separately from the parent patent.
How are Families with International Counterparts Treated?
A U.S. patent is enforceable only in the U.S., a Chinese patent
is enforceable only in China and patent rights are generally
country-specific. So, patent holders often file for patents on
the same invention in several countries. A patent application in
one country often provides a priority date for patent
applications in other countries, and act something like a parent
with international children.
When acquiring a patent, the buyer usually looks to acquire all
the international counterparts in the same transaction. This is
partly to enlarge the territory that can be covered by the
patent, but is also done to remove any doubts about the buyer
owning clean title. If the buyer acquires the patent for a
country A, but fails to acquire the counterpart for country B,
there is a possibility that the ownership of the patented
invention could be challenged, especially when the priority date
was provided by the country B filing.
A patent with international counterparts is, of course, more
valuable than a patent covering only one country. Buyers are
mostly interested in U.S. patents today and international
counterparts can add 10-25% of the value to a U.S. patent.
What is
the Process of Selling a Patent--How Long Does it Take?
On average, like any significant business transaction, the
process of selling a patent takes around nine months. The first
three months is spent preparing the listing and marketing
materials and distributing them out to potential buyers.
The second three month period is spent promoting the listing,
providing interested buyers with additional information and
negotiating the terms of a potential transaction. On average,
terms are agreed with a buyer after 6 months has elapsed--much
of this time is taken up by the buyer evaluating the patent,
setting a value and negotiating with the seller.
After terms are agreed, the process is in the hands of the
lawyers. A patent purchase agreement is prepared by lawyers
representing the buyer, this is then negotiated with lawyers
representing the seller.
The process of checking for clean title and gathering the
document required to close the transaction can take weeks or
months, depending on the speed of the lawyers, the number of
patents and the complexity of the transaction.
Closing takes place after the lawyers on both sides are
satisfied that the documents are complete and payment is
transmitted from the buyer to the seller.
Why
Set an Asking Price?
Patent buyers are wary of sellers with unrealistic pricing
expectations. The process of evaluating a patent is time
consuming and expensive for the buyer and many are reluctant to
undertake this work if they suspect they will be unable to reach
a mutually agreeable price with the seller.
Many buyers, certainly many of the most active, experienced
buyers, refuse to evaluate and consider a patent until they have
assurance that the sellers pricing expectations are reasonable.
Of course, they expect some negotiation on price, but a patent
with an unjustified multimillion dollar price tag will not be
taken seriously by buyers.
How
to Set an Asking Price?
The purpose of setting the asking price is to grab attention of
the buyer and set their expectations. As discussed above,
setting an unrealistic price will make your patent difficult, if
not impossible, to sell.
Sellers should discuss pricing with their patent brokers but the
pricing should be within the framework provided above. If you
believe your patent is in group F, then provide evidence of
prior litigation and claims charts showing ongoing infringement.
Of course, setting an asking price a little higher than you are
ultimately prepared to accept will provide you with some room
for negotiation.
How do
Licensees Affect the Marketability/Value of My Patent?
The value and marketability of the patent is affected by
licenses. The license is usually transferable, the buyer can
step into the shoes of the seller and inherit the license
arrangements. The effect of licensing on the value of the patent
can be positive or negative, depending on the terms of the
license. The impact of licensing arrangements depends partly on
the nature of the license but also on the buyer and their
motivation for acquiring the patent.
A license arrangement is viewed by the buyer as an encumbrance
as it affects the buyers ability to acquire clean title. The
scope of the license is significant to the buyer as it affects
the rights being acquired. A patent that has been licensed under
an arrangement where the licensee has unrestricted rights to
sub-license is worth very little to a buyer as little other than
bare title to the patent is available for sale in this
situation.
However, a patent with an ongoing revenue stream from
non-exclusive licensees can be significantly more valuable than
a patent without licensees. A buyer looking for a revenue stream
from the patent will be attracted by such licensing
arrangements, but a buyer looking to assert the patent against
one of the existing licensees will find this patent of very
little value.
For these reasons, when evaluating a patent for acquisition,
buyers request information on licensing arrangements attached to
a patent and other encumbrances such as liens.
How do Liens and
Other Claims Affect the Marketability/Value of My Patent?
A lien is a claim of ownership on the patent by a lender or some
third party to the transaction. As such, it restricts the buyers
ability to acquire clean title and can lead to disputes of
patent ownership in future. Liens can complicate the transaction
and the buyer usually looks to ensure that liens are removed
prior to closing of the patent sale. It is important to disclose
liens to buyers early in the process so there are no surprises
that derail the transaction later on, and the buyer can be
assured that the lien can be removed to ensure the transfer of
clean title.
What are
Claims Charts, and Why Should I Care?
As a patent is merely a right to enforce, to exclude others
practicing the disclosed inven tion,
even defensive buyers are looking for patents that can be
asserted against infringers. A claims chart is a simple
two-column chart that is used to show evidence of infringement.
You should care about this because evidence of infringement is
important to establish the value of the patent--a patent with
claims charts is more marketable and attracts a higher value
than one without.
How Can My Letter to a Buyer Wind Me in Court?
A company receiving a letter, email, or some communication
containing a patent number and reasonably perceives that it may
be accused of infringing the patent has a right to ask the court
for a declaratory judgment--declaring whether infringement is
actually taking place. So, a letter informing a potential buyer
of your patent could result in the buyer bringing a lawsuit
against you requesting such a declaratory judgment. You are then
required to file a claim of patent infringement as a compulsory
counter-claim and a complete patent infringement lawsuit has
been triggered.
Buyers not only have the right to file such a declaratory
judgment suit but it is often in their interests to do so. The
buyer filing the suit effectively selects the court where it
wants the case to be heard. As patents cases are heard in
federal court, they can be brought in a variety of states and
districts. Its in the buyers interest to bring the case in the
district thats most convenient to them, and is most likely to
present a jury sympathetic to the buyers argument.
As patent sellers are aware of the multi-million dollar costs
involved in patent infringement suits and the danger of
triggering a lawsuit when communicating with buyers, the seller
often engages an agent or intermediary such as Tynax to
communicate with the buyer and remove the risk of unwanted
litigation.
Why are
Buyers Reluctant to Acknowledge My Patent?
If you send your patent number to a potential buyer, it is
unlikely that you will receive a confirmation of receipt or any
form of acknowledgement. This is because the courts customarily
award triple damages for knowing infringement, as opposed to
infringement that is accidental. If you put the buyer on notice
of your patent and subsequently sue the buyer for infringement,
they are liable to pay three times as much in damages as they
would if they were unaware of the patent. By responding to your
email or letter introducing your patent, the buyer is providing
evidence to you that it is on notice of the patent, and this
evidence may be used against them in court.
For this reason, it is not unusual for buyers to operate under
total silence when evaluating a patent for purchase. If the
buyer is interested, they will often inform their broker and
request further information. If the buyer decides not to acquire
the patent, they generally do not communicate this or disclose
that they have evaluated the patent to the seller or the sellers
agent.
Why are Patent Attorneys Reluctant to Acknowledge My Patent?
When filing new patent applications with the patent office, an
attorney has a duty to disclose any other patents that could
form prior art for the invention forming the application. Patent
attorneys, as a result, take steps to minimize their exposure to
any patents other than the ones they are filing for their
clients. The attorneys relationship with the patent office is
critical to his/her ability to file new patents in future and an
attorney that is aware of a patent that might form prior art is
duty bound to disclose this information. Breaching this duty and
failing to disclose known patents can lead to censure by the
patent office and can affect the attorneys career. So, attorneys
are reluctant to receive detailed information regarding patents
for sale.
Why do you
Need a Lawyer to Sell a Patent?
A patent sale involves intricate paperwork that must be
customized for each transaction. The best way of protecting your
interests is to have a lawyer with experience in these
transactions represent you. The lawyer can structure the
transaction in a way that minimizes your liability exposure.
What are the Key
Elements of a Patent Purchase Agreement?
The patent purchase agreement (PPA), otherwise known as the
patent acquisition agreement (PAA) is generally drawn up by the
buyer and includes the following provisions:
- Identification of the patents and assets being sold.
- Purchase price and payment details.
- License back for seller, where negotiated.
- Assignment (transfer) of the patent rights on closing.
- Representations and warranties that the seller owns the
patents being sold.
- Representations and warranties that the information provided
by the seller is accurate.
- Confidentiality agreement.
Can I
Negotiate a License Back?
It is not uncommon for patent sellers to negotiate a license
back allowing the seller to continue to use the patented
invention. This license is often structured as a covenant not to
sue--the seller is free to continue to make and sell products
that use the patented invention without the risk of being sued
by the buyer for infringement.
The buyer is understandably keen to limit the scope of the
license back. As the patent is a right to exclude others
practicing the disclosed invention, the buyer must retain
control over how the license is transferred and sub-licenses are
issued. The license must be non-transferable and sublicensing
disallowed, otherwise the rights acquired by the buyer would be
virtually worthless.
Can I
Negotiate an Ongoing Royalty Fee or Licensing Revenue Share?
A transaction involving an ongoing royalty or revenue share from
products using the patented invention makes sense in theory but
in practice it is usually impractical to implement and these
transactions are surprisingly rare. One reason is that the buyer
often puts the patent into a portfolio with a large number of
other patents and identifying which individual patent generates
revenue is very difficult. Another reason is that the buyer
often holds the patent to assert against others, and does not
practice the invention in its own products. Of course,
monitoring sales, calculating revenues related to a particular
patent and reporting of revenues is also an administrative
burden on the buyer.
The situations where the buyer is prepared to entertain an
ongoing royalty stream and the patent results in a product with
sales revenues that can be easily tracked and calculated, are
relatively rare but they do sometimes exist, especially in the
pharmaceuticals and biotech sectors.
What Are Buyers Looking For in the Due Diligence Process?
A patent buyer is concerned with at least three issues in due
diligence. The first, and the most important topic for most
buyers is clean title. The buyer wants to ensure that they are
acquiring all the rights to the patents and want to avoid claims
of ownership from inventors, prior owners, or lien holders in
future.
The second issue is patent validity. Some buyers investigate the
validity of the patent, usually by checking the file wrapper
correspondence with the patent office and searching for prior
art. The amount of work conducted here depends on the buyer and
their motivation for purchasing the patent.
A third issue investigated by buyers is the validity of the
infringement information, when this is provided in claims
charts. For assertive buyers, this can be an important part of
the due diligence process, and can take some time.
Why Do
Buyers Request Old Assignment Paperwork and Other Documents?
Patents are issued to inventors. Inventors can then assign the
patent rights to their employers or other parties. Two or more
co-inventors of a patent each own full rights to the patent and
is able to assign or license the patent rights without
requesting approval from the other co-inventors.
Title, ownership rights to the patent, is transferred from the
inventor to subsequent parties through assignment. Many
re-assignments of rights are not subsequently registered with
the patent office, so the public patent records are an
unreliable source of ownership information--the owner on record
at the patent office is often inaccurate and out of date.
As a seller, you own title to your patents by virtue of either
being the inventor or through assignment agreements. The buyer
acquiring your rights wants to make sure that you own the patent
rights you are selling. Often this involves checking that all
the relevant assignments were properly executed.
The chain of title for patents often involves several
assignments. The first assignment is often from the inventor(s)
to their employer, subsequent assignments take place when the
patents are sold or the employer is acquired by another company.
If any of these assignments were invalid, the buyer could be
acquiring patent rights that do not exist, or could be
challenged in future.
If you are selling your patent and you want to speed up the due
diligence process, you are advised to gather all the relevant
assignment documents as soon as you put the patents on the
market, check the signatures are all in place and make these
documents available to the buyer as soon as the terms are
agreed.
Why Do
Buyers Ask for Representations and Warranties?
When the buyer is asked to rely on statements or assurances made
by the seller, the buyer is likely to ask for representations
and warranties from the seller that the information is accurate.
This places a liability on the seller if the information is
subsequently found to be inaccurate.
The most likely scenario where representations and warranties
are important is where the seller is unable to provide copies of
all relevant assignments. The assignment documents effectively
provide proof-of-ownership of the patents. If these important
papers cannot be provided by the seller, the buyer will often
request a representation and warranty from the seller that the
seller does indeed own title to the patents that are being sold.
This is less than ideal for the buyer, as often the only
recourse the buyer has if it is found that they have paid the
seller for patents they didnt own is a refund of the purchase
price and this is often insufficient to fully compensate the
loss incurred by the buyer.
If you are concerned about liability, you may be able to
negotiate the elimination of representations and warranties if
you provide the buyer with copies of all the assignments and
strong evidence that you own clean title to the patents being
sold.
Why, When and
How Do Buyers Investigate Patent Validity?
Buyers are aware that a large number of patents issued by the
patent office are later deemed invalid. In fact, something in
the region of fifty percent of patents that are asserted against
infringers in court are found to be invalid during the
litigation process. The due diligence work undertaken by the
patent office examiner to investigate validity is not as
extensive as that undertaken by the defendant in an infringement
lawsuit, as the examiners work on a much more restricted budget
than defense attorneys. As a result, patent invalidity is often
undetected in the prosecution process and is only discovered in
litigation.
The discovery of prior art showing the invention had been
conceived earlier by someone other than the inventor, is a
common basis for invalidity. Errors in the application process,
lack of novelty and errors in the examination process are also
grounds for later invalidation.
Buyers understand that the patent they acquire today could be
found invalid, and worthless, tomorrow and as a result they
often undertake some checks on validity. Lawyers representing
the buyer can justifiably spend huge amounts of time and energy
researching prior art. However, in most transactions, the checks
are intended to uncover only obvious grounds for invalidity by
scanning through the communications between the inventor and the
patent office. This communication is recorded in the file
wrapper that is available from the patent office.
The amount of time and energy spent investigating validity of a
patent depends on the price and the total value of the
transaction, the reason for buying the patent and the motivation
of the buyer. Generally, assertive buyers looking to file
infringement suits with the patent spend more time searching for
prior art and investigating validity than defensive buyers who
often make no more than a cursory check of the patent office
correspondence.
Why
Do Buyers Often Acquire Abandoned Patents and Applications?
Buyers often look to acquire all the international counterparts,
parents and children of a patent, even when these patents and
applications have been abandoned. This is done to remove any
chance of dispute over clean title. If the buyer simply acquires
a patent, theres a risk that the owner of the other family
members could dispute ownership of the patent. Abandoned
applications can often be revived, or they can be used to claim
priority for future continuations and related applications. So,
the buyer usually looks to sweep up all related family members
when buying a patent, and it is not unusual for the buyer to
acquire abandoned and expired patents in the process.
Why
Should I Avoid Selling the Patent Myself?
Patent buyers are often reluctant to deal with sellers directly,
as they are unsure if the approach by the seller is the prelude
to an infringement lawsuit or a genuine opportunity to buy the
patent. As mentioned above, by sending a letter to the buyer,
the seller faces triggering a lawsuit from the buyer for
declaratory judgment.
If the buyer is prepared to deal directly with the seller, they
are often in position to leverage their size and superior power
to negotiate preferential terms.
Why use a
Broker or Intermediary to Sell a Patent?
Buyers shield themselves from potential infringement liability
by working through agents and various forms of intermediaries.
Brokers and intermediaries like Tynax are able to reach these
buyers and have patents opportunities evaluated without
triggering the potential for litigation. Having open channels to
the key decision making buyers is an essential component of the
sales process.
The broker is taken seriously by the buyer and has the
experience to navigate the intricate steps in sales process. By
reaching a larger number of buyers, the broker is often able to
create an auction environment and negotiate higher prices than
the seller could when promoting the patents directly.
How are
Brokering Commissions Justified?
Patent brokers have traditionally operated under a similar model
to contingency lawyers. The broker representing a seller
receives nothing if the patent is unsold, but receives a 33%
commission upon closing of a transaction. As with contingency
law firms, there are variations on this model and the commission
varies from broker to broker and transaction to transaction
between 25% and 50%.
To observers coming from the real estate brokering market or
mergers and acquisitions, these commission levels may appear
high. One reason for the difference in commission structure is
that the patent market suffers from a lack of liquidity. By
adjusting the price, real estate agents are usually able to sell
a property. Lowering the price is not always well received by
the seller, but it usually results in a real-estate sale. The
same is somewhat true for the sale of businesses, but the value
of the transaction here is also usually much higher than the
value of a patent sale. Lowering the price of a patent is not a
sure-fire method of making a sale and many patents are simply
insufficiently appealing to buyers.
The patent broker often shares commission among various
co-brokers that also play a part in the transaction. The lack of
liquidity in the patent market, the complexity of transactions,
syndication costs and revenue sharing among co-brokers means
that patent brokers need relatively high commission levels to
operate successfully.
Can I Sell Without Transferring Title?
Sellers such as universities and research laboratories that have
received funding from government or other sources are often
restricted from selling the patent outright. However, they are
able to license the patents that form the fruit of these
sponsored development projects.
As the patent is merely a right to exclude, a right to assert
against infringers in court, this is what the buyers are looking
for when they acquire patent rights. A transaction can be
structured whereby the seller retains title to the patent, but
the buyer acquires an exclusive license with right to enforce in
court. The right to enforce is usually accompanied by a right to
join the patent holder in the action, which itself is
accompanied by indemnification that the buyer will pay all the
legal costs associated with such enforcement.
With this structure, the patent holder is able to retain title,
but sell the substantial rights that a buyer needs.
How
Can I Accelerate the Process of Selling My Patent?
The best way of increasing momentum in the transaction process
is to engage with several competing buyers, gather the
assignment documents and claims charts before they are requested
by the buyer and actively manage the legal process assigning
responsibilities and setting deadlines.
How
Can I Push Up the Value of My Patent?
The value of the patent can be increased by preparing compelling
claims charts showing evidence of infringement, reaching out to
a number of competing buyers, and providing materials that
justify the asking price. A broker like Tynax is often able to
provide guidance in these areas and significantly increase the
value by creating a bidding environment among several buyers
that leads to higher prices.
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Guide to Selling Your
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