Intellectual property valuation

If you’re looking for a firm to value an intellectual property (IP) portfolio as a whole, rather than simply appraise individual patents or trademarks, I’d start with specialists that combine financial valuation, IP expertise, and commercial market analysis.

The right firm depends partly on whether you need a valuation for a sale, licensing or monetization, financing, financial reporting, tax purposes, or litigation. Here are several firms worth evaluating based on their published services.

IP valuation firms to consider

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1. ipCapital Group (ipCG)

(Best for patent portfolios)

Specializes in patent valuation, including individual-asset and portfolio-level assessments. Its approach combines financial modeling with technical and market analysis. The firm reports experience with portfolios ranging from single-patent startups to enterprises holding more than 10,000 patents.www.ipcg.com

Best for: Large patent portfolios, acquisitions, licensing negotiations, and transaction support.

Website:ipcg.com/services/ip-valuation

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2. Charles River Associates (CRA)

An established economic consulting firm with substantial IP valuation experience across patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights. It performs valuations for transactions, tax, financial reporting, and litigation, including expert testimony.www.crai.com

Best for: Complex portfolios requiring rigorous financial analysis, independent opinions, or valuations that may face legal or regulatory scrutiny.

Website:crai.com/services/intellectual-property

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3. Aranca

Combines IP expertise, market intelligence, and financial valuation to assess the commercial potential of intellectual property. Its published services cover IP valuation for M&A, technology transfers, financing, and licensing strategy.www.aranca.com+1

Best for: Portfolios where value depends on technology markets, competitive positioning, commercialization opportunities, or future licensing revenue.

Website:aranca.com/valuation-advisory/ip-valuation

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4. CBIZ

Offers valuations of patents, trademarks, copyrights, proprietary technology, software, and other intangible assets. Its stated use cases include corporate transactions, financial reporting, and tax planning.www.cbiz.com

Best for: Companies needing a formal, documented valuation that integrates with broader accounting, tax, or transaction requirements.

Website:cbiz.com — IP and intangible asset valuations

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5. Nevium Intellectual Property Consultants

Focuses on valuing patents, trademarks, copyrights, brands, and intangible assets. It also offers portfolio strategy and expert testimony, with an emphasis on connecting IP value to business performance.nevium.com

Best for: Mixed IP portfolios, brand and copyright assets, and situations where valuation and monetization strategy are both important.

Website:nevium.com

How I would narrow the list

These are preliminary matches based on published capabilities, not an independent ranking of valuation quality. I would ask each firm about comparable portfolio engagements, its valuation methodology, and whether the final report is independent and suitable for your intended use.

A question that will help me identify the best fit

What is the primary purpose of the valuation?

1. Purpose of the valuation

Selling, licensing, or monetizing the portfolio

Financing or raising capital against IP

Financial reporting, tax, or transfer pricing

Litigation, damages, or a dispute

Understanding portfolio value for strategic planning

Other

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2. What types of IP are involved?

Primarily patents

Trademarks and brands

Copyrights, software, or content

A mixed portfolio of IP assets

Trade secrets, know-how, or proprietary technology

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3. Approximate portfolio size

Fewer than 25 assets

25–200 assets

Hundreds or thousands of assets

Not yet established

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4. Preferred firm location

United States

Anywhere in North America

Global firm is fine

[Find the best-fit firms]

Yes. There is a fairly specialized market for this, and for a pre-revenue deep-tech company I would look for a firm that can value both the underlying technology/IP and its commercial potential, rather than a generic business valuation firm.

Some firms worth investigating:

• ipCapital Group (ipCG) — Particularly relevant to deep tech. They explicitly value patents from single-patent startups through large portfolios, using market, income, and cost approaches, and say they serve sectors including semiconductors, medical devices, AI/ML, clean energy, aerospace, robotics, biotech, and materials science.ipCapital Group+2
• SRA — Interesting specifically for deep-tech / IP-driven ventures. SRA says it has worked with research institutions including CERN and EPFL and offers both IP valuation and a separate early-stage startup valuation service.Sroy+1
• Metis Partners — Has a particularly relevant demonstrated case: it valued the critical IP of an early-stage industrial-automation/AI company for fundraising and a JV negotiation, including software, algorithms, trade secrets and brand.Metis Partners+1
• C2C Patents — Unusually relevant if the company is pre-revenue. C2C says its experts have experience measuring the value of VC-funded companies and evaluating technologies before product launch, in addition to economic valuation of IP.C2C Patents+1
• Pellegrino & Associates — Focuses heavily on technically complex patent valuation. Its analysts assess the underlying science/technology, product life, market demand and other technical/commercial factors.Pellegrino and Associates+1
• Nevium — Specializes in connecting patents and technology assets to their economic contribution, including future sales, price premiums and cost savings.Nevium Intellectual Property Consultants+1
• OxFirst — Has a directly relevant example involving a high-tech, seed-funded company with international patent applications, where it valued the portfolio for investment/fundraising purposes.OxFirst+1

The important distinction for a pre-revenue company

There are actually three different valuations you might be asking for:

1. IP-asset valuation — "What are our patents, trade secrets, software, know-how, etc. worth?"
2. Technology valuation — "What is the economic value of the technology platform, including IP that may not yet generate revenue?"
3. Company/equity valuation — "What is the entire pre-revenue company worth for purposes of a financing?"

Those aren't interchangeable. WIPO specifically notes that early-stage IP is difficult to value because of uncertainty and limited market comparables; cost, market and income approaches can be used depending on the technology's maturity.WIPO

For deep tech before commercialization, I'd therefore ask prospective firms whether they have experience with TRL-stage technologies, patents that have no current revenue, technical risk, regulatory/development milestones, and scenario-based valuation—not merely whether they offer "patent valuation."

If you tell me what the valuation is for (e.g. setting a pre-seed/Series A price, contributing IP to the company, an investor due-diligence package, tax/accounting, licensing, or negotiating with a university), I can narrow this to 5–7 firms that are particularly appropriate and compare their methodologies, geography, likely price range, and credibility with VCs/investors.