This book fills an important gap in the literature and will be very useful both to students of intellectual property and practitioners confronted by the problem of valuing their patent portfolios. An excellent overview of an evolving and challenging area, it provides the necessary background to thinking about the problem of valuation and describes all the major methods in use, including the real options approach. Bronywn H. Hall, University of California, Berkeley, US In depth knowledge and scientific approach are used to improve patent valuation techniques. . . a dream book for both researchers and practitioners interested in identifying the value of creative minds. Bruno van Pottelsberghe, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, ULB, Belgium The Economic Valuation of Patents provides an original and essential analysis of patent valuation, presenting the main methodologies to value patents in different contexts. Starting with an analysis of the relevance of patent valuation from a strategic, economic and legal perspective, the book undertakes a thorough review of the existing financial and qualitative valuation methodologies. The contributing authors, IP experts from academia and business, discuss the application of valuation issues in various contexts such as patent portfolio management, licensing agreements, IP litigation, IP-backed finance and accounting. For each topic, an introductory theoretical background is provided and specific application contexts are then investigated. This multidisciplinary book bridges theory and practice in a unique and novel way that will be appreciated by graduate students, scholars and practitioners alike.

A practical resource for valuing patents that is accessible to the complete spectrum of decision makers in the patent process In today's economy, patents tend to be the most important of the intellectual property (IP) assets. It is often the ability to create, manage, defend, and extract value from patents that can distinguish competitive success and significant wealth creation from competitive failure and economic waste. Patent Valuation enhances the utility and value of patents by providing IP managers, IP creators, attorneys, and government officials with a useable resource that allows them to use actual or implied valuations when making patent-related decisions. Involves a combination of techniques for describing patent valuation Includes descriptions of various topics, illustrative cases, step-by-step valuation techniques, user-friendly procedures and checklists, and examples Serves as a useable resource that allows IP managers to use actual or implied valuations when making patent-related decisions One of the most fundamental premises of the book is that these valuation skills can be made accessible to each of the various decision makers in the patent process. Patent Valuation involves narrative descriptions of the various topics, illustrative cases, step-by-step valuation techniques, user-friendly procedures and checklists, and an abundance of examples to demonstrate the more complex concepts.

"In this book, we attempt to cover some frequently asked questions on intellectual property and intangible assets and to engage in brief discussions on the subject of identifying value. We identify many of the main types of intellectual property and intangible assets. We also look at the primary, traditional, and not-so-traditional methods of valuing these assets and include case studies and various situations in which the valuation of these assets is required." -- from the Introduction, p. 3.

In recent years, business leaders, policymakers, and inventors have complained to the media and to Congress that today's patent system stifles innovation instead of fostering it. But like the infamous patent on the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, much of the cited evidence about the patent system is pure anecdote--making realistic policy formation difficult. Is the patent system fundamentally broken, or can it be fixed with a few modest reforms? Moving beyond rhetoric, Patent Failure provides the first authoritative and comprehensive look at the economic performance of patents in forty years. James Bessen and Michael Meurer ask whether patents work well as property rights, and, if not, what institutional and legal reforms are necessary to make the patent system more effective. Patent Failure presents a wide range of empirical evidence from history, law, and economics. The book's findings are stark and conclusive. While patents do provide incentives to invest in research, development, and commercialization, for most businesses today, patents fail to provide predictable property rights. Instead, they produce costly disputes and excessive litigation that outweigh positive incentives. Only in some sectors, such as the pharmaceutical industry, do patents act as advertised, with their benefits outweighing the related costs. By showing how the patent system has fallen short in providing predictable legal boundaries, Patent Failure serves as a call for change in institutions and laws. There are no simple solutions, but Bessen and Meurer's reform proposals need to be heard. The health and competitiveness of the nation's economy depend on it.

Drawing on the full range of available resources, this book clearly and systematically presents a detailed overview of current knowledge about patent valuation. In the course of the presentation the authors cover such elements of the subject as the following: business implications of the dematerialization of economic life; importance of intellectual property in a knowledge economy; forms of value creation by intangible assets in general and by patents in particular; value proposition of different ways of patent exploitation; patent value affecting environmental factors and factors inherent to the patent portfolio; structure of current instruments of patent valuation. The authors provide a detailed step-by-step account of how to set up a valuation model, with specifications of all the instruments required and attention to any empirical findings that have appeared. In addition, detailed case studies demonstrate the practical execution of major varieties of patent valuation, an appendix describes the mathematics used to compute present value and net value, and a glossary defines technical terms. In addition to its contribution to legal scholarship on patent law, the book is unmatched as a procedural manual for setting up a valuation model before a concrete valuation task. There is no clearer discussion of patent valuation as a crucial element of corporate strategy in the knowledge economy, and as such the book will prove of great practical assistance to business managers and their counsel in any jurisdiction.

This book offers a primer on the valuation of digital intangibles, a trending class of immaterial assets. Startups like successful unicorns, as well as consolidated firms desperately working to re-engineer their business models, are now trying to go digital and to reap higher returns by exploiting new intangibles. This book is innovative in its design and concept since it tackles a frontier topic with an original methodology, combining academic rigor with practical insights. Digital intangibles range from digitized versions of traditional immaterial assets (brands, patents, know-how, etc.) to more trendy applications like big data, Internet of Things, interoperable databases, artificial intelligence, digital newspapers, social networks, blockchains, FinTech applications, etc. This book comprehensively addresses related valuation issues, and demonstrates how best practices can be applied to specific asset appraisals, making it of interest to researchers, students, and practitioners alike.

The development of patent markets should allow for better circulation of knowledge and more efficient allocation of technologies at a global level. However, the beneficial role of patents has recently come under scrutiny by those favouring 'open' innovation, and important questions have been asked, namely: How can we estimate the value of patents? How do we ensure matching between supply and demand for such specific goods? Can these markets be competitive? Can we create a financial market for intellectual property rights? In this edited book, a team of authors addresses these key questions to bring readers up to date with current debates about the role of patents in a global economy. They draw on recent developments in economic analysis but also ground the discussion with the basics of patent and knowledge economics. Striking a balance between institutional analysis, theory and empirical evidence, the book will appeal to a broad readership of academics, students and practitioners.