QANTM Valuations - FAST30 Webinar Series

Not all patents are created equal: what really drives patent value?

Presented 'Live' on: Thursday, 09 April 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SrlEdOq2-w

Patents are often treated as shorthand for innovation and value. But in practice, some patents create real commercial leverage while others add little beyond optics. So what separates a genuinely valuable patent from one that is merely registered?

Speakers:

Michael Caine, Vice President - International Federation of IP Attorneys

Jack Shan, QANTM Valuations

You will learn, in this 30-minute presentation:

• How to distinguish patents that create real commercial value from those that offer limited practical leverage

• The key legal, technical and commercial factors that influence patent value in practice

• How claim scope, enforceability, jurisdictional coverage and design-around risk affect valuation outcomes

• How a clearer understanding of patent value can support transactions, licensing, disputes and strategic decision-making.

  
  

Key themes from the session

A few of the points that resonated most strongly were:

• Patent value depends on more than the existence of a granted right. 

  Value is shaped by the interaction between legal protection, technical relevance and commercial context. In practice, that means asking not only what the patent covers, but whether it supports a real business objective and can be translated into economic value.

• Claim breadth, design-around difficulty and enforceability matter.

  A patent is generally more valuable when competitors need to use it to operate in the market, when workarounds are difficult, and when infringement can be detected and enforced in practice.

• Portfolio strategy can materially affect value.

The effective protection term of a patent family may be influenced by follow-on filings, divisionals, continuations and improvements that extend commercially relevant protection over time. This is particularly important where commercialisation takes time.

• Strategic fit can significantly increase value.

  The same patent may be worth very different amounts depending on who owns it, how it fits within an existing business, whether there are natural licensees, and whether it strengthens market position or broader portfolio leverage.