Patent Portfolio Optimization

AiPi has developed machine learning software and techniques that enable us to optimize patent portfolios by minimizing costs and maximizing benefits.  Our patent optimization services typically involve:  

Patent Valuations

AiPi provides patent valuations of small and large patent portfolios for various purposes, such as in the contexts of M&A, patent sale, cross-licensing, etc.  Our valuation process initially involves creating a patent landscape of the relevant technologies that will divide the relevant technologies into technological fields, and these fields into sub-fields.  Importantly, the landscape articulates in detail the patent rights existing in each field/sub-field, with an identification of the entities owning those rights, and will show the boundaries of the client’s patent portfolio in the context of the patent rights and products of other entities.  

AiPi then generates a valuation of the client’s US and overseas issued patents and pending patent applications in the context of the landscape based on a variety of factors, including:  

  • Total number of exploitation possibilities: This indicator does not measure the heterogeneity, but the total amount of different industries, technologies, applications where the invention could be exploited. 
  • Evidence of use: An important value indicator is if an infringement can be detected. The more difficult it is to detect infringement, the less valuable the patent. For process patents, it is typically the case that infringement is difficult to prove. 
  • Relevance for other technologies /applications: One important indicator is how many patents from other assignees refer to the given patent, taking the patent age into account. The more citations, the more relevant the technology/application/formulations must be. The bigger the claims coverage of a patent, the more often other patent attorneys will need to refer to the patent in order to differentiate new patents from it.
  • Differentiation to the state of the art: Alternative, evolution or revolution is a key question for patent valuation. Alternatives are easy to bypass and have a small protective effect.
  • Validity level: Shows the oppositions ratio to cited references by patent office examiners – so if a certain patent obviously bothers someone and it is far from the state of the art in general, the value is high. 
  • Claim width and coverage: The number of claims has an impact on cost in terms of fees payable. Secondly it documents how many different applications and forms an invention may have. The claims are essential for determining the legal coverage of a patent. Even more important than the total number of claims are the independent claims. They directly document the coverage and potential blocking effect of a patent. 
  • Validity in certain countries: For European countries, this indicator only counts the number and economies of the currently covered states where patent fees are maintained. For single countries, the economic size of the country the patent is filed in is considered. Whenever patent protection is not maintained, it indicates that a technology has lost importance in a certain market. 
  • Market coverage score: This element summarizes indicators where the number of markets and the sizes of the economies are considered. This consideration reflects the potential addressable for the invented technology/formulation.
  • Market attractiveness score: This reflects whether a technology / formulation follows a trend. Thus, the trend and total technical activity indicators are considered here. For patents, competition is a very strong value determinant: if there were no competition, a patent wouldn’t make sense at all.

Patent Portfolio Sales and Purchases

AiPi facilitates the sale as well as the purchase of small and large patent portfolios.  

Our patent portfolio sales process typically starts with creating a patent landscape that articulates in detail the patent rights existing in each field/sub-field, with an identification of the entities owning those rights, and that shows the boundaries of the client’s patent portfolio in the context of the patent rights and products of other entities.  

Based on the patent landscape, AiPi will create a valuation of the patents, identify entities that may be interested in buying or licensing the portfolio, and then create decks tailored to these identified entities introducing the sales and licensing opportunities.  AiPi will then contact these entities and engage in negotiations for the ultimate sales or licenses.

Our purchase process also typically starts with a patent landscape to identify patent portfolios that may be of interest to our clients, such as for the purpose of protecting their commercial operations, assertion against infringers, or to achieve strategic goals.  We then create a valuation of the patents for purchase, contact the patent owners, and engage in negotiations for purchasing the patents.

Achieving Better Understanding of Patent Portfolios

AiPi provides other services relevant to patent management, such as for achieving a better understanding of patent portfolios in terms of relevancy, value, scale, etc., which is useful for culling or otherwise releasing irrelevant patents, identifying commercially significant patents, etc.  

It is often effective for AiPi to evaluate patent portfolios, and categorize the patents as:  

  • low value because they cover obsolete technologies that no one is, or likely will be, interested in commercializing the covered technology; 
  • valuable because they either protect the company’s current or future products, or are likely to be relevant to the current or future products of other entities; or 
  • infringed by other entities and ready for enforcement.

This categorization enables optimization of the patent portfolio, which is effective for both large and small portfolios.  

It may also be beneficial to obtain an understanding of a technology and/or patent portfolio covering the technology in certain contexts, such as for a Merger and Acquisition (M&A).  AiPi provides critical insights in these situations, such as by explaining how an entity’s technology and patents fit into those of the acquiring entity.  We are able to articulate whether such acquired technologies and patents are:  1) duplicative/redundant, 2) unrelated, 3) synergistic, or 4) potentially synergistic upon the occurrence of certain events.  AiPi is therefore able to provide critical insights into the value of such acquisitions.

Similarly, AiPi provides valuable insights for investment entities considering investment in a technology company.  AiPi is able to explain how the relevant technology and patents fit into the overall landscape of patent rights and commercialized products, providing key insights for enabling the investment entity to determine the merits of the investment, pitfalls, opportunities, etc.  In this process, AiPi is able to create an intellectual property strategy that can be implemented upon investment to increase company valuation, or alternatively provide assets that can be monetized and returned to investors should the company fail.