The Tax Treatment of Patent Sales

Khurram Naik (J.D. 2013, John Marshall), For Sale - Patents - Never Used: Gaps in the Tax Code for Patent Sales, 11 J. Marshall. Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 859 (2012):

Patent sales are an underappreciated means of monetizing patents. Recent blockbuster patent sales indicate heightened demand for patent acquisitions. There is evidence that such patent sales transfer patents to parties more skilled in patent enforcement, reducing litigation. Patent sales also move capital to innovators, which enhance incentives to innovate. But crucially, C corporations do not benefit from advantaged tax treatment. Efforts by other nations to encourage patent use and sales by providing “patent box” preferential tax regimes may provide some guidance for remedying this gap in the tax code.