Five years of patent market data is reviewed and used to make predictions about the overall patent industry.

2016 saw a significant rise in both the number of patent brokers and patent packages. Though the frequency of package sizes is similar to 2015, there is a remarkable increase in single-asset packages in 2016, and we continue to see a trend of the market favoring smaller packages due to their marketability.

While 2016 may have seemed like a tough year for the patent market – with dropping sales, decreasing prices, and the effects of Alice continuing to take its toll on fintech – there are also many new opportunities emerging.

In many ways, the patent market is where the rubber meets the road in terms whether patents are valuable. It is the place where individual patents are assigned a price and also where companies often go for business solutions to patent challenges. We believe that shedding light on this market brings greater liquidity to patents as business assets, and brings all inventors and patent professionals more mindshare with business leaders.

Asking prices are down, but the patent brokerage business is not in as poor health as it may first appear – especially for a select handful of players.

Every year, we carefully track the brokered patent packages for sale on the open market and provide insights into the comprehensive state of the market and how it is changing. 2014 has seen prices drop and the deal flow slow down but what does it mean for the future of the market?

"In the next issue of IAM we will be publishing an article by Kent Richardson and Erik Oliver, of ROL Group, which looks at 186 patent packages – consisting of a total of 5,394 issued US patents and 7,595 total patent assets worldwide – offered by brokers and other sellers over the past three years.

While the brokered patent market in the United States is going strong, there is still little analysis of this business. Our review of 222 deals offers insight into what is becoming a lucrative market. Here, we present our analysis of the brokered patent market in 2013.

We look at 186 patent sales packages – consisting of a total of 5,394 issued US patents and 7,595 total patent assets worldwide – offered by brokers and other sellers over the past three years. Analysis includes average asking prices ($344K per asset), time to close is about 180 days, and 16% actually sell.

Although sales of brokered patent packages reach an estimated $153 million a year, lack of data makes this a tricky market to evaluate. We attempt to illuminate this information void with our review of 186 patent packages consisting of a total of 5,394 issued US patents and 7,595 total patent assets worldwide.

We interviewed leading IP executives across the high tech industry as well as clients, colleagues and even competitors to provide you with valuable insights into the future of the patent market. Our conclusion: there has never been a better time to acquire high-quality patents at low prices.