The medtech industry, especially within diagnostic imaging and AI-assisted technologies, is increasingly focused on acquiring and licensing high-value patents as a strategic lever for growth and competitive differentiation. As patent portfolios grow in size and complexity, medical technology companies worldwide face significant challenges in uncovering value—particularly when identifying assets with strong potential for patent infringement or licensing actions. Extracting commercial value from expansive and technically dense portfolios requires not only legal and technical insight but also strategic alignment with evolving market needs.
Key Challenges Around Identifying High-value Patents for Potential Licensing or Infringement Actions
One of the sector’s primary challenges is that companies must identify enforceable, high-value patents—often called ‘diamond patents’—within a vast landscape of filings. They need to assess not only the legal status of these patents but also their technical relevance to current industry practices and innovations. Detecting patent infringement further complicates the task, especially when companies do not publicly disclose product features and when technological convergence blurs the lines between innovations. Legal enforceability, patent maturity, and geographic coverage also play critical roles in determining a patent’s monetization potential and infringement risk.
Strategies to Identify & Monetize Diamond Patents in the Medtech Sector
To navigate these complexities, medtech firms employ a structured and analytics-driven approach to patent mining and enforcement. This typically begins with the creation of focused technology clusters using AI-based classification, which enables a refined view of the patent landscape across technical domains, such as digital breast imaging or tomosynthesis. Once clustered, patents are systematically ranked using a blend of quantitative and qualitative parameters, including forward citations, claim scope, market relevance, and patent family size.
To assess patent infringement risks, companies conduct detailed citation analysis and product-publication mapping, which reveal overlaps between patented claims and real-world product features. This approach allows us to identify assets that market players may be actively infringing. We then validate the most promising patents through feasibility analyses that evaluate legal enforceability, technical overlap, market alignment, and the potential for monetization through infringement.
Ultimately, developing robust Evidence of Use (EoU) charts is a key step in building a compelling case for licensing negotiations, cross-licensing agreements, or patent infringement, where appropriate. This strategic process ensures that medtech firms can unlock the true value of their IP portfolios while maintaining a defensible and commercially focused position in the market.
Learn how our strategic approach delivered business outcomes and IP monetization success for a medical technology company.
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