Non-specialists may be surprised to learn that the answers to these basis questions in many instances remain indeterminate. Susan L. Glovsky provides an excellent post on PatentlyO on the subject:
The time has come to enact national legislation that provides clear record title to patent applications and patents. The value of patents is too great to continue with the present system. Moreover, patents are a federal right and should be addressed at a federal level. A national system would harmonize U.S. law with those of other countries, which generally have a national system for recordation of patent rights. Recently, the Patent Office proposed rules that would require disclosure of any assignee of patent rights. But these rules simply do not go far enough. Legislation is necessary in order to provide a comprehensive internationally recognized system that assures the recordation of patent title, security interests, and other encumbrances through filings solely in the Patent Office.See also Patent Reform through the Creation of Economic Facts. A few years ago, I suggested here that an econometric analysis of patented features that focused on frequency-averaged measures of sales and manufacturing might be useful as a mechanism for valuing patents. That is way too complicated to be workable right now at least. But with reliable information about ownership and prior licensing of a portfolio available, comparable-based patent valuations would become more feasible for the many market participants who do not come with their own private database of such information.
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