Was 2023 a good year for the patent market? We are torn. When we wrote the first draft of this year's report, the data looked gloomy. But then when we dug deeper and realised that the last year turned out not be too bad.

Technology companies often sell their patents to assertion entities, otherwise known as “patent trolls,” according to a study published on Oct. 20 by law professor Brian Love and the law firm Richardson Oliver Law Group.

At the ROL Group we perform quarterly analysis on patent packages offered for sale on the open market and our 2015 Q1 analysis showed that the number of sales is trending up significantly.

The life of a patent broker has never been easy. Over the last year it has become even harder, with prices dropping and deal flow slowing.