Intellectual Property, including Patents, is an asset class that may be valued and monetized. TechPats understands the incredible investment of time and resources in research, development, and patent prosecution that is required in order to receive a granted patent.
Monetization Strategies
The basic approach to maximizing return on investment is to identify the most valuable assets and develop a monetization strategy that works with your business needs.
Whether your portfolio includes one patent or one thousand, our proprietary work-flow and deal-flow software, iPatents, can be utilized to help our analysts identify the patents with the best claims. Whether it’s developing a monetization strategy for our clients or offering technological and market expertise, TechPats is able to work with patent owners and their counsel and help drive the deals in all types of patent transactions.
Licensing and Cross-Licensing
Licensing a patented invention is a popular method of monetizing a patent because it can generate revenue for the life of the patent without giving up ownership. A patent grants the owner the right to exclude others from practicing the patented invention. Licensing a patent is permitting one or more parties to make, use, or sell a product or service that uses the claimed invention, usually, in exchange for a royalty or other compensation. The leverage driving a patent licensing deal is the ability to enforce that right to exclude via litigation, so a significant basis for valuing an IP licensing deal is determining how strong a potential patent infringement case might be. Accordingly, demonstrating a high likelihood of infringement, via an Evidence of Use chart is the most efficient strategy for driving licensing campaigns and generating licensing revenue.
- Generally a licensing campaign involves these key steps:
- Mining Your Portfolio
- Identifying Potential Infringers
- Market Research and Risk Evaluation
- Documenting Evidence of Use
- Preparing to Approach a Potential Licensee
- Of course, the ability to enforce a patent’s right to exclude is a complicated and critical evaluation, however, concepts of quantity and diversity of patents in the portfolio tend to strengthen a bargaining position in a licensing campaign.
- Preparing to offer a company a license for a patent portfolio is a delicate process requiring experienced patent and legal professionals. TechPats’ team has partnered with and supported many clients on all phases of licensing campaigns, but partnering with legal representation is a necessity.
Litigation Preparation
Making a claim in court against an alleged infringer is a serious step, but patent owners are wise to approach every monetization situation as preparation for patent infringement litigation. Likewise, from the moment a company is contacted for licensing discussions or notified of alleged infringement, a plan to prepare for litigation should be in the works.
Of course, the ability to litigate and enforce a patent’s right to exclude is a complicated and important evaluation; however, concepts of quantity and diversity of patents in the portfolio tend to strengthen a bargaining position.
TechPats’ reputation as unbiased professionals is unparalleled and our experts and consultants have supported litigation teams preparing to represent patent owners or accused infringers, in their respective cases.
Our technology subject matter experts can conduct independent investigations into any specific matters such as potential for infringement, validity risk assessment, or market and economic analysis.
Whether you need a technology-support arm for your team or merely require due diligence or reverse engineering before filing at court, TechPats can help support your litigation
Divestiture
If needed, TechPats can help patent owners sell their patents. Whether the client needs to find many potential bidders or is looking for a private meeting with the right potential buyer, TechPats and our partners are able to build a strategy to help sell patents efficiently and economically.
Preparing a patent or portfolio for potential sale—and expecting a high return—is not as easy as merely listing the assets for sale. TechPats has helped sellers and buyers in due diligence by preparing reports and summary packages that examine the relevant markets, potential infringement, risk analysis, as well as licensing and litigation trends.
Selling a patent needs to be done correctly the first time or the owners risk losing value. Preparation for market should emulate laying the groundwork for litigation. Of course, sale of an asset likely means relinquishing control prior to a lawsuit, but the value of a patent inherently comes from the ability to enforce the right to exclude. While a patent sale or divestiture may be a bit simpler than litigation, maximizing a patent portfolio’s value for market is not an insignificant evaluation and should, accordingly, be given proper time and support.
Funding Partners
TechPats has been in the patent industry for over twenty years and our market and patent professionals have developed partnerships and connections with financial companies able to support many of the more expensive aspects of patent monetization.
TechPats may be able to help, for instance, in one of the following ways:
TechPats can independently evaluate a patent or portfolio and prepare a report that identifies the strengths and risks of the assets in a form that funding companies are accustomed to reviewing.
TechPats has worked with litigation funding companies and financial backers to perform due diligence on patents and portfolios as they are evaluated for monetization risks and rewards.
TechPats and our technology subject matter experts can conduct independent investigations into any specific matters such as potential for infringement, validity risk assessment, or market and economic analysis.
There is no definitive path to automatically attract and secure funding for licensing or litigation, but with TechPats’ support and industry relationships, financial impediments to monetizing your patent or portfolio may be minimized.
Technology Landscape
A solid first step for business evaluations and researching potential competition in Intellectual Property is to commission a Technology Landscape report. A staple of most patent professionals, landscaping provides a fairly general overview of the patents and players in a certain area(s) of technology. These reports can inform and guide business policies, R&D spending, M&A activity, and technology transfer strategies.
Where TechPats stands out is in our expert insight—even on something as seemingly straightforward as a landscape. We deliver accurate data, convey results clearly, and fully explain our methodology.
Depending on the request, TechPats can offer simple observations and insight or provide long-term advice on many technologies and across multiple industries.
Patent Landscaping
TechPats’ analysts and consultants understand the value of creating a good Patent Landscape from the beginning to help direct business decisions and put IP questions in proper context. These reports can inform and guide business policies, R&D spending, M&A activity, and technology transfer strategies.
The key to a Patent Landscape report is the specificity of the search and the scope of the technology. For instance, too narrow a search may eliminate important technology and potential market players. Too wide a landscape might miss key developments in the areas most relevant to your business.
Rather than merely commissioning a standard, cookie-cutter Patent Landscape, by communicating your goals with TechPats, our team can produce a tailor-made Patent Landscape that is oriented towards producing actionable insights to guide your decisions and expand your business.
Industry Landscape
An Industry Landscape is an umbrella term for a look at the IP in an industry and its owners. The value of creating a good Industry Landscape is to help direct business decisions and put patent and IP questions in proper context. These reports can inform and guide business policies, R&D spending, M&A activity, and technology transfer strategies.
Perhaps just as importantly, Technology Landscapes, in one form or another may be the starting point to developing a licensing campaign by identifying players in an industry, estimating market values, and gathering competitive intelligence about other IP portfolios.