What kinds of patents sell?

The patent sales market is driven almost entirely by issued US patents. If you have an issued or granted patent in a country other than the US, your patent or portfolio of patents is unlikely to attract a high degree of attention from patent buyers, unless you have a US patent or at a minimum, a pending US patent application. If you have an issued US Patent click here.

Pending US applications are usually difficult to sell because a pending application is a speculative investment. After all, the application may be rejected, or the pending claims may need to be narrowed to overcome prior art references cited by the patent examiner, which may reduce the application’s value. Patent buyers typically look for more certainty. Pending applications can support a sale in two situations.

  • If the pending application is allowed or the examiner has indicated there is allowable subject matter, even though some claims in the application are rejected. Click here, if you have an allowed patent application.
  • If the pending application is related to an issued US patent.

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