AST Announces Results for IP3 2021 – Collaborative Patent Purchase Program

06/24/2022

Princeton, New Jersey, June 24, 2022 AST, the Member-driven leading provider of proactive and collaborative patent defense solutions, today announced the 2021 results of its sixth iteration of another successful Industry Patent Purchase Program (IP3), a collaborative, fixed-price, fixed-term, time-limited patent purchase program that provides patent owners access to dozens of leading technology companies.

Similar to previous IP3 programs, IP3 2021 attracted strong interest among individual sellers, brokers, law firms, along with AST Membership firms. 300+ sellers and brokers had offered over 1,000 submissions consisting of 960 patent families with 2,039 active assets from 46 jurisdictions which were evaluated by 40+ AST Members over a couple months with many of them collaborating on purchases. IP3 2021 Participators included: Cisco, Google, Intel, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, Snap, Twitter, Uber, and Verizon, among others.

“This was our sixth IP3 program, and each year brings new sellers and patents of interest to our Members, with 2021 having our most first time offerings.” said Russell W. Binns Jr., CEO of AST.

AST Members spent $3.86 million to acquire 34 deals consisting of 39 patent families with 88 active assets. Sellers’ asking prices ranged from $5,000 to $780,000 per deal. The average purchase price per lot was $113,617 while the price per patent family was $93,000. Sellers were notified with the intent to purchase at the end of September 2021, and all deals were closed by December.

IP3 2021 Submission Stats Worth Noting:

Over 1,000 submissions were received; however, 868 valid submissions were accepted in the program for AST Member’s consideration.
960 patent families with 2,039 active assets from 46 jurisdictions
- - 1,692 issued patents, 297 published apps, 50 unpublished apps
  - 1,300 US assets – 1,186 issued patents, 114 pending applications
- Sellers’ asking prices ranged from $3,000 to $2,000,000,000
  - 94% of offered deals had an asking price of below $500,000
  - Average price per submission* – $117,000 (*deals under $500,000 only)
  - Average price per patent family – $99,000
  - Median price per submission – $110,000
- 55% of offered deals had at least one previously offered asset to AST
  - 76% of purchased deals were previously received and reviewed by AST Members emphasizing the importance for sellers and brokers to stay engaged with AST.
  - New review materials, such as Evidence of Use charts, supporting documents, change in sellers’ asking prices, additional patent assets, and new AST Memberships were the primary reasons for the interest in previously received AST Lots.
- 94% of deals were single patent family offerings
  - 49 submissions with 2-5 patent families
  - Only 5 submissions with more than 5 patent families

Further details about the average price per deal and patent family by technology zones can be found below:

IP3 2022
The Submission Window for IP3 2022 opened on June 20, 2022 and will remain open until July 1, 2022. AST will consider submissions in the technology areas outlined above for this installment of IP3. Please visit: https://www.ast.com/ip3/

Additionally, if you are a patent buyer or buyer’s representative, we have posted those IP3 2021 Lots that are available for sale.

Please visit https://www.ast.com/acquired-portfolios/?q=IP3+2021

About AST

AST was founded in 2007 by four global high-tech companies as a member-driven cooperative to mitigate patent risk and to operate with no profit motive. AST serves the world’s most innovative and recognized technology companies through the cost-sharing acquisition of patent rights; provides access to the most comprehensive database of patents offered in the secondary market; offers Quarterly Market Insights reporting; and facilitates a community for IP thought leaders to interact and form business relationships.

AST’s Members include over 40 top global companies from a wide range of industries, including Avaya, Cisco, Dolby, Google, Honda, IBM, Intel, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, Philips, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Snap, Sony, Spotify, Twitter, Uber and Verizon.

For more information on AST, please visit https://www.ast.com/
Member Services: member_services@ast.com
Patent Sales: patent_sales@ast.com

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