Recently I found in the IAM patent monetization yearbook 2012 an article about "Patent books as civilzed revolution in patent licensing". The concept of Patent books seems to be compelling.
With a Google search the idea of "Patent books" can only be found at the website of the IP strategy company TAEUS (http://www.taeus.com/articles/patentbooks-a-civilized-revolution-in-patent-licensing/).
Are there other / similar implementations of the "Patent book" approach? What are the shortcomings of the concept of "Patent books"?
I am answering based on extensive experience with regard to university, individual, and company technologies. I am not familiar with TAEUS or their patent book. I have no comment on TAEUS. My remarks are qualitative and imprecise due to the need for brevity.
The most important motivator for buying a product or taking a license is usually the need to solve a particular problem. Marketers call this "removal of pain."
Many researchers believe that something will succeed simply because it is exceedingly meritorious and the very best of its kind. This is not true. For example, Microsoft conquered the world with defective software. Nikola Tesla died impoverished and alone.
One can hope that a patent book will be looked at by the right person. Without significant marketing efforts on somebody's part, this will rarely happen. Even if this does happen, there is nobody to explain to the reader how a license will remove pain in the particular circumstances of the reader.
There are scenarios in which registration in a patent book could simply constitute wishful thinking.
The fact that you got only one hit on "patent book" in Google would seem to indicate that the term is not widely recognized.
Once again, Robert Cogan seems to be speaking eminently sensibly. In other words, 'patent books' seem to be of little or no value. @Robert - a nice and gentle answer!
