Answers · Valuation & Worth
A company wants to buy or license my patent. How do I know what to ask for?
Updated June 2026
The short answer
Anchor your ask to what the patent is worth to the company approaching you, not to what it cost you. For calibration: most negotiated patent sales close in the five to six figures, with outliers far higher, and published licensing surveys commonly cite running royalties of 0.1 to 8 percent of net sales, with roughly 3 to 6 percent typical.
Unsolicited interest is a genuinely strong signal, because a company with revenue has already decided your patent matters to its business. Your job before responding is to figure out why, since their reason sets your ceiling.
Figure out why they want it
Companies approach patent holders for three common reasons. They may already be practicing the invention, or about to be, and want the risk cleared cheaply before you notice. The patent may block something on their roadmap. Or it may be ammunition against a competitor. Each motive supports a different price, and the first one supports the highest, which is exactly why their opening letter will not tell you which it is.
Do the homework before replying: study their products and recent releases against your claims, check whether their patent filings cite yours, and look at what they have acquired before. An approach that arrives shortly after they shipped something resembling your invention is telling you where the leverage sits.
Build your number before you answer theirs
Value to them is the anchor: the revenue their relevant products generate, times a supportable royalty band, over the life of the exposure, checked against what designing around your claims would cost them. That math, not your development costs and not your filing fees, is what a sophisticated buyer respects, because that math is what their own team is running.
Then choose your structure. A sale is one payment and a clean break. A license preserves ownership and creates a stream, and for a patent a large company genuinely needs, the stream is frequently worth more over time. An independent read before you respond costs a fraction of what answering wrong does: a monetization assessment at ipCG starts around $5,000, a full valuation goes deeper, and our free Patent Monetization Calculator is a reasonable same-day starting point.
Protect yourself in the process
Patterns that cost sellers money: anchoring on sunk costs, which signals you have not done the value math; granting free exclusivity or open-ended option periods, which freeze your asset while they decide; signing their paperwork without review; and going quiet yourself instead of cultivating a second interested party, since nothing improves an offer like an alternative. Silence after your counter is a standard tactic, not a verdict.
And the boundary that protects you most: any assignment, license, or option is a legal contract your own patent attorney should review and negotiate. ipCG is a consultancy, not a law firm. We build the valuation and the negotiation strategy; your counsel papers the deal.
Related questions
Should I name a number first?
Generally invite their framework first, since their opening may exceed your estimate. But never enter the conversation without a researched floor, because the side with a defensible number and patience usually wins the anchor game.
Should I license it or sell it?
If they depend on the patent and you can tolerate an ongoing relationship, a license usually captures more value over time. If you want certainty, a clean exit, or doubt their long-term reporting, sell. The valuation work is the same either way.
They asked for a free exclusivity period while they evaluate. Is that normal?
Options are normal; free ones are not. An exclusivity or option period takes your asset off the market and should be paid, time-boxed, and papered by your attorney.
What if they go quiet after my counteroffer?
Common, and often tactical, since they know waiting pressures individual patent holders. Keep developing alternatives and let the silence run. If they practiced your invention before, the underlying interest rarely evaporates.
Do I really need a lawyer if we already agree on price?
Yes. The price is one term among many: scope, field of use, sublicensing, audit rights, and what happens in a dispute. Assignment and license drafting is legal work for a patent attorney; we stay on the business side of that line.
Get a number before you reply
An approach letter has a clock on it, but not a fast one. A free discovery call can tell you within 30 minutes whether you are looking at a nuisance clearance or a real negotiation.
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ipCapital Group is a consultancy, not a law firm, and nothing on this page is legal advice. Dollar figures on this page are typical market ranges for professional IP services, drawn from published sources and industry experience across a variety of providers. They are not an ipCG quote or rate card; every ipCG engagement is individually scoped and priced. See how our pricing works.