When preparing for negotiations, it is important to understand which patent attributes are likely to play a central role in the negotiations, versus other attributes that are not a point of distinction or value.

Several entities have engaged in creating patent scores, patent strength, and patent rating algorithms that apply a single value to a patent or patent portfolio asset. Although useful, such tools have been found wanting when it comes to the specifics of preparing for negotiations. This is because these tools have high correlation coefficients with respect to value, but the predictive ability of such algorithms, the R squared term, is often low.

One way to overcome this deficiency is by visually displaying the key variables of a particular patent or portfolio. This visual display does a better job of showing strengths and weaknesses in terms of each of the three criteria, as well as providing a balance between detail and complexity, thus resulting in fast and thoughtful decision-making.

Visualization is most easily done by creating a radar or spider diagram. In such a diagram, each axis is a rating score of one of many attributes important to the value of a patent. For example, the center of the diagram relates to the lowest score or value, oftentimes zero, and the outer perimeter scale refers to the maximal value found for that particular attribute. Scores of the source portfolio and the portfolios of other comparison patents (each from specific assignees) are ranked between zero and the maximal value on any one axis.