These years will undoubtedly be remembered as a very good time for sellers of patents. No more specific sales of patents from one company to another, but huge sales in which the biggest players in the market participate. In 2012 RPX announced the purchase of patents belonging to Apple and other companies for $ 9 million in order to avoid claims for technologies related to smartphones. In 2011 HTC bought the company Dashwire and its patents for $ 18.5 million, a deal that analysts explained by HTC desire to accumulate assets in patents. Furthermore, a portfolio of 882 patents from Novell sold for $ 450 million. Shopping for patents continues with the purchase of the portfolio of Nortel Networks contains more than 6,000 patents for no less than $ 4.5 million, after the seller has gone bankrupt. By the way, the price topped the original proposal by Google to buy the portfolio for a price of only $ 900 million.
In view of the above it is clear that not only the cost of patents is rising steadily but that even bankrupt companies can have a patent portfolio that is worth money. This point requires rethinking in evaluating companies, as the patent portfolio of a company can generate profit regardless of its success or failure in the market. It is therefore apparent that companies, especially start-ups, should invest in their patents portfolio in addition to developing their products since the patents folder can have an independent value regardless of the company’s performance.
Such market situation shows several principles for building a successful patent portfolio:
1. When drafting patent applications one has to assess the significance of implementing the invention beyond the specific activity field of the company. The future value of a patent shall be determined according to its usefulness for other companies in other areas.
2. There is a great advantage for the investment in quality and quantity of patent applications. The quality of the patent will gain the maximum attention of potential buyers, but the number of patents could affect the final pricing.