Author(s)

Oliver Baldus^1*, Pierre Dübon², Michael Barth³

¹Schwarz and Baldus LLP, Munich, Germany.
²Munich, Germany.
³Eder Schieschke & Partner mbB, Munich, Germany.

This article highlights under which unique conditions value can be assigned to patents by the concept of Lean IP Management. In general, a patent can be regarded as a positive asset when it covers a product having market potential and it can be enforced as a prohibition right effectively. In particular, there exist three core criteria for monetary evaluating patents. The first and most basic criterion relates to the fact that only those patents protecting subject-matter that has market potential can be considered as positive assets. The second and the third criteria stipulate that even if the first criterion is fulfilled, the patent has to be enforceable in reality in order to be seen as a positive asset. In summary waste avoidance not only in general business operations but also in handling of IP rights is the core measure and most efficient tool for sustained growth of the enterprise. By consequently sorting out negative assets by Lean IP Management, the overall value of the patent portfolio is increased and managing of remaining IP rights can be conducted more efficiently.

IP Management, Lean IP Management, Monetary Value of Patents, Assessing Inventions, Saving Costs

Baldus, O. , Dübon, P. and Barth, M. (2018) On the Value of Patents in Lean IP Management. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 8, 1113-1122. doi: 10.4236/ajibm.2018.85077.