Maintenance & Enforcement
How do companies decide whether to license or litigate around a patent?
The short answer
By spreadsheet: expected license cost versus expected litigation cost versus design-around cost, all discounted by probability. One structural shift matters to you — the PTAB's inter partes review process helped drive median litigation costs down 47% in two years, because accused infringers can now challenge validity relatively cheaply.
The full picture
The implications for owners are two-sided. Harder: every serious assertion invites an inter partes review attempting to kill your patent — claim quality decides whether you survive. Easier: companies with real exposure often prefer a quiet license to public litigation risk, especially when the opening offer is reasonable.
Positioning for that spreadsheet: a patent that survives scrutiny (clean prosecution, solid prior-art record), priced below the defendant's litigation-plus-risk cost, is a license waiting to be signed. Price it above their design-around cost and you've priced yourself out. Finding that window for your specific patent is analytical work — and it's work we do.
Where does your patent stand?
The Beyond the Patent Commercialization Score answers that — a professional, factor-by-factor read on your patent's licensing, sale, build, and partner potential.
Related questions
General information for patent owners — not legal advice. Read the disclaimer.