Non-linear corrections in market method of patent valuation

Intellectual property rights are increasingly becoming an important asset of enterprises, so that an innovative business must carefully decide about the method of its valuation. The existing literature indicates three classical approaches to this issue: cost-based, income-based, and market-based methods, and a few more sophisticated ones such as: the option-based and patent citation methods, with their advantages and disadvantages. This paper proposes a novel methodology of non-linear corrections in the market model of patent valuation, when factors such as time to expiration, copying risk, or momentum in patent life cycle are taken into consideration. The proposed approach, based on evidence of the non-linear impact over time of the abovementioned factors on the value of patent, is anchored primarily in marketing science as well as in the theory and practice of accounting. This fine-tuning raises the accuracy and credibility of the market method of patent valuation.