How do we determine the value of a patent?

Question

Hello everybody

We are in the process of forming a startup with three co-founders. One of the founders is bringing in two patents on the technology we want to develop into a product. The other founder and I contribute money and equipment. To launch the company properly and to divide up the shares, we would like to know which value to attribute to the patents. Of course they are essential to our whole value proposition (so "priceless" in a sense), but the other founders' contributions have a clear "pricetag" and we think it would be appropriate to put a value on the patents as well. How should we evaluate them?

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Answers: 2 public & 1 private

34479e6a58
Patent Attorney

Hi,

I agree with Bart. That said, I'm not sure if it will help, but there are companies that keep up with patent royalty rates per technology/ industry and/or can help "value" the patents. It matters what technology area. For example, patents that read on standards are subject to FRAND, and are usually no higher than 3%, while in other technology areas they can be as high as 10%. Try searching for companies like this (I'm not recommending them - just an example): http://www.royaltyrange.com. http://www.pellegrinoandassociates.com

Hope this helps,
Mary

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