Patents not belonging to the core of the business and also ranking lower on the quality metrics can be further studied before you decide to abandon them. The aim here is to decide the licensing or infringement potential of the patents and a few of the considerations here are:

• Scope of claims (whether claims are narrow or broad) – Broader claims can increase licensing probability in areas not directly competitive with your business
• Current and future market size of the technology in which the patent falls into
• Whether the patented technology is being used by third-party products
• Whether the technology field is in demand, and a lot of research is going on in that area

Those that show promises can be further evaluated for monetization by way of licensing, enforcement, or sale. Finally, those patents that are non-core, lower in quality ranking and which do not have any licensing or enforcement potential are ripe for abandonment.

Keep in mind that pruning can also be done for patents that continue to be part of your product subject to the following criteria:

• If the process or technology protected by the patent is having a clear workaround
• If a prior-art has come to light that can invalidate the patent easily
• If a country, no longer holds any commercial potential for your product/technology (Country-specific pruning of family members can be evaluated)

To sum-up, having systematic approach to the portfolio pruning process can go a long way in keeping you IP portfolios aligned with the latest goals of the business. Leveraging the best tools of patent qualitative analysis can help mitigate some of the challenges associated with this time-consuming process.