Using either the subject matter expert or automated methodology, the patents in the portfolio are then ranked based on their title, patent abstract, main claim, age, citations, in the context of the technology and markets. The patents are then assigned a rank of 1, 2 or 3, including a brief explanation of the ranking when done by subject matter experts. The “First Past Evaluation Criteria” figure shows how the ranks are assigned.

The “Invention Evaluation Matrix” figure shows a two-matrix scoring of a patent’s value useful for ranking patents.  The anchored scales for the matrix elements are especially well suited for summarizing subject matter expert opinions. Once this is done, all patents are plotted as shown on the “Portfolio Evaluation Matrix” figure so the team can present to others a summary of their portfolio’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.