Welcome to Technology Gain-of-Function Strategies

Economic experts in patent litigation are tasked with quantifying damages and ensuring apportionment aligns with legal precedent (e.g., Georgia-Pacific, Finjan v. Blue Coat, Ericsson v. D-Link). Their role is not simply to count revenue but to separate the patented contribution from the non-patented features within a product or service. Tech GoF provides a consistent framework to do this by treating the patented invention as a functional multiplier within a broader economic system.

1. Validity Context

While economic experts do not opine on technical validity, they rely on it to establish damages scope:

• If the patent is valid, economic value flows only from that which is claimed.
• Tech GoF aids by providing a structured model of incremental value attributable to the claimed invention relative to prior art.

2. Infringement Context

Economists must align damages to actual infringing use:

• Tech GoF maps subscriber penetration, usage rates, and adoption curves to patented functionality.
• Quickly identify the connection between infringement and damages.

3. Apportionment Context

This is the economic expert’s core function:

• Principle: Apportion damages to reflect only the incremental benefit of the patented invention, not the value of the entire product.
• Tech GoF Application:
  • Break total system gain into functional multipliers (0–10).
  • Assign relative weights to each multiplier.
  • Attribute only the proportion linked to the patented invention.

4. Economic Metrics in Apportionment

Economists ground their analysis in concrete metrics:

• Revenue Base: Product sales, service subscriptions, or avoided cost savings.
• Functional Impact: Tech GoF multipliers for throughput, coverage, cost avoidance, efficiency.
• Market Adoption: Subscriber penetration, % of use tied to patented feature.
• Incremental Value: Distinction between patented vs. unpatented contributions.

5. Litigation Utility

• Defensible Evidence: Courts require apportionment rooted in economics, not speculation.
• Structured Normalization: Tech GoF avoids “whole product damages” pitfalls by showing mathematically how the patented feature fits within the system.
• Cross-Disciplinary Alignment: Legal, technical, and economic experts can reference the same normalized gain factors.