In Nortel's recent bankrupcy, the liquidation of the IP assets led to a bidding war. Google offered $900M for the patents; Apple and Microsoft created an alliance (with RIM, Sony, EMC, Ericsson) to offer $4.5B for the same patents^. Certainly there was a great disparity in these bid prices. How can you objectively determine the value of a portfolio and patent duration. Let the tools at IPstreet.com help you.

Here are five common factors that often determine the worth of an invention. (1) Importance of a Patent: For breakthrough patents, a.k.a. foundational patents, the patents are so innovative that they give the owner a complete monopoly over an entire industry and are extremely valuable, often worth billions of dollars. Although most patents never reach these heady heights they are nevertheless valuable in that they can force a competitor to start innovating to keep pace with new and improved technologies and products in the market. Incremental patents, which make only small advances over existing products, are usually the least valuable though this may not be always so. A question that is often asked in relation to endeavoring to put a price on a patent is 'How much would my competitors pay to use my protected product or process?' (2) The Market: Market size, the number of products that are likely to be made and the cost of each product also have a significant bearing on the value of a patent. What sort of sales can the patent be expected to support, and for how long? A good example of an article which has significant market presence is the ubiquitous Intel chip that is reported to have a value estimated in the billions of dollars. (3) The Patent Term: Patents have a maximum life of 20 years and, therefore, a 20-year potential monopoly. Patents that are just beginning their life and which have longer to run on the their potential monopoly position understandably will have more value. It is rare that a patent nearing the end of its term will cause a great threat to its competitors. It is almost certain that they will have devised technologies or products of their own by then that will not interfere with the patent owners monopoly position. In addition, one has to take into consideration the potential business life of a patent, i.e., the duration, which a patent is likely to be economically useful, if other subsequent patents are providing better alternatives to it. (4) Amount of Prior Art: The number of cited documents or patented products populating an area of innovation also has an effect on the value of a patent. Generally, if the particular product is one of many products of a similar type then the consumers' options de-value the patent of interest, yielding a relatively smaller premium than, for example, a stand alone patent with a captured customer base and no adjacent competition. (5) Patent Significance: Every patent has its own significance in a particular area and will usually form part of an overall IP strategy either to maximize its earning potential or to allow other patents to maximize theirs. Examples of such patents are those that are used to block other key players from gaining a foothold in a market. Yet other examples are those patents that are additional to an original patent and rely on the protected matter in the original patent to successfully operate. It is not uncommon for drug companies or telecom companies to take out further patents protecting a strong first generation of patents, thus securing a big chunk of a market and the ability to negotiate licenses and royalties from the protected, but much desired technology.

Although anyone can claim to inventor or create something (e.g., Al Gore created the Internet), the reality is that an idea needs to be carefully considered in context of the law. If you are serious about protecting your invention, you should contact a patent attorney or patent agent. Applying for a patent, and its subsequent patent prosecution process, does cost money. You may see ads for low-cost services to file a patent on your behalf. Such solutions are viable if your goal is to boast to your friends that you patented something. However, if you have real-world business ambitions, it is imperative that the person writing the claims of your patent is a well-qualified lawyer. The adage "you get what you pay for" is very true in the intellectual property community. Realistically, a single patent is going to minimally cost you around $10K for the application fees, legal fees to write the claims, and so on. You want to find a legal professional that is a subject matter expert in your domain (whether it is IT, manufacturing, mechanical engineering, biotech).

"At present, it is known that intangible resources, or intellectual capital, are the drivers of economic growth. IPStreet.com's tools can help you understand if your idea is patentable, how to patent an idea, how to conduct a patent search to it's full potential and understand the analytics behind the patent search. We can help with understanding patent duration, patent value and connecting you with an experienced patent lawyer. One of its components is the human resources. Human resources are the main source of knowledge of firms, and it is considered a critical resource, maybe the most important one (Johanson, 2005; Marr and Roos, 2005). For this reason, its management and its development are crucial to increase the value of the firm. The objective of this paper is to analyse the influence that the training expenses have over the total value of the intangibles. From the business management, the expenditure on training are an investment." (Lidia García-Zambrano et al). Let IPstreet.com help you with your HR Director needs.

Building a strong base for IP protection will make it difficult for other people and companies to infringe upon protected rights. One way to secure intellectual property protection is to cover IP with various types of IP rights. Patent infringment is a serious threat for anyone interested in patenting an idea or interested in patenting an invention. Imagine that the IP of a particular U.S. company is a novel paintbrush. The company can obtain a utility patent in the United States covering the novel paintbrush. If the company has business in Europe, it might be wise to file a PCT as well. It might be beneficial to write a claim, also, for painting with the paintbrush. By doing so, the company would ensure that both people manufacturing the brush, and each small or large painting using the brush, would be guilty of infringement if they were not first granted a license to use the brush in any manner they saw fit. When the company holding the patent improves the tool, it can always file a new patent covering the improvement (continuation-in-part application). Additionally, a design patent might protect the design of the paintbrush. Finally, the company might have a unique name for the tool that could be trademarked. The patent search tools and resources provided at IPStreet.com, will help you better understand patent duration, how to protect from patent infringement and ways to connect to experienced patent lawyers.