All the above background work and analysis prepares a company for licensing out its portfolio. However a question remains as to the negotiation value of any individual patent. Is the portfolio worth more separately or all together?

To gain insight at the individual patent level, several software companies have engaged in creating patent scores, patent strength, and patent rating algorithms that apply a single value to the asset. Most negotiation teams use these scores for guidance, as they vary greatly at times.

Another approach is to list patents by their publication dates, family size, citation counts and velocities, predator presence, generality and originality, and validation measures. Sorting and binning upon these attributes allows those patents likely providing the most negotiating value to be easily identified.

These visualization techniques are constructed prior to negotiations with the licensee. The above tools and techniques along with a comprehensive business understanding of portfolio mining, licensee identification, and competitive assessment provides a company and the prospective licensee a complete picture of the technology and business uses for the IP to be negotiated.