Market Context — Why This Technology, Why Now

The digital economy's reliance on software as a core asset is driving an urgent need for transparent, efficient, and objective valuation mechanisms for intellectual property. As code marketplaces expand and the demand for reusable components grows, traditional manual valuation methods are proving insufficient. This technology aligns with the global push for AI-driven automation in knowledge work and provides a critical solution for managing and monetizing software assets in an increasingly complex and competitive landscape.

Key Competitive Advantages
01

Achieves High-Precision AI-Driven Valuation: Calculates initial sales price using a multiclass classifier and regression analysis, eliminating subjective human bias for objective and fair value assessment.

02

Enables Real-Time Price Optimization: Dynamically adjusts the sales price based on market trends and similar code transaction data from external services, ensuring optimal pricing at all times.

03

Secures Robust IP in a Highly Competitive Sector: Secured patentability despite 12 prior art documents, demonstrating clear differentiation and strengthening market competitiveness against existing source code trading methods.

Market Opportunity
Software Development Platforms
$3B–$4B globally (AI est.)
As demand for development efficiency grows, platforms that can quickly source high-quality source code at fair prices become essential infrastructure for developers.
Major code repository providers Integrated development environment (IDE) vendors Cloud-based development platform operators
IT Services and SaaS Companies
$1.5B–$2.5B globally (AI est.)
These companies could efficiently acquire and utilize existing high-quality modules and components for their service development, leading to reduced development time and cost savings.
Enterprise SaaS providers Custom software development firms Digital transformation solution integrators
Intellectual Property Management Services
$600M–$700M globally (AI est.)
This technology could streamline complex management of software copyrights and licensing through its similarity-based profit distribution system, offering new value-added services.
IP law firms specializing in software IP asset management software vendors Corporate legal departments managing software portfolios
IP Defensibility — Why Competitors Can't Replicate This
What This Patent Covers

This patent protects a system for source code trading that uses AI for high-precision, objective value assessment and dynamic pricing based on external market data. Its broad scope, covering 21 claims, was established after overcoming initial rejections, indicating a robust and clearly defined right.

Competitive White Space

This patent focuses on the pricing and transaction system for source code. It does not cover adjacent areas such as automated code generation, refactoring tools, or advanced code security analysis, offering avenues for complementary IP development.

Economic Impact
~$150K/year estimated economic impact per facility (est.)
estimated ROI · USD · AI analysis
ROI Calculation Logic

Reducing source code valuation effort by 80%: 200 hours/month × $35/hour (AI est.) = $7,000/month (AI est.) saved, totaling ~$60K/year (AI est.). Dynamic pricing boosts transaction success rate by 10%, adding ~$65K/year (AI est.) to a $650K/year platform. Similarity-based profit distribution could reduce intellectual property dispute costs by ~$35K/year (AI est.). Total estimated economic impact: ~$160K/year (AI est.).

Speed to Market
6× faster than in-house development
The core AI algorithms (multiclass classifier, regression analysis) for source code valuation are already established. The interface for acquiring information from external services is also conceptually clear, facilitating easy integration into existing platforms. This could enable market entry approximately 2.5 years faster than developing a similar system from scratch, contributing to early competitive advantage.
Competitive Positioning

X: Pricing Accuracy and Fairness
Y: Market Adaptability and Revenue Maximization

Business Models & Applications
🌐 Platform Licensing
License this system to source code trading platform operators. Integrating AI-driven valuation and dynamic pricing features could differentiate services and boost profitability.
🔗 API Integration Service
Offer the technology's pricing determination and adjustment functions as an API to existing development tools and repository services. Provides developers with immediate insight into their code's market value.
📊 Source Code Valuation Consulting
Provide objective valuation reports for source code assets during corporate M&A or asset appraisals. This enhances the accuracy of intangible asset valuation for businesses.
Adjacent Application Opportunities
✍️ Digital Content
AI-Powered Digital Content Valuation System
This technology could be adapted to analyze the similarity and market trends of digital content like illustrations, music, and videos, calculating fair sales prices. This would help maximize creator revenue and invigorate platform activity, potentially increasing content sales by 15-20%.
📈 M&A & Corporate Valuation
Software Asset Valuation for M&A Due Diligence
In M&A, this technology could objectively assess the economic value of a target company's software assets (source code). This enhances due diligence accuracy and strengthens negotiation positions, potentially reducing valuation discrepancies by 20-30%.
🤝 Open Source Projects
Automated Contribution-Based Reward Distribution
This system could be applied to open-source projects to evaluate individual developer code contributions (similarity, impact) using AI. This enables automatic and fair distribution of donations or corporate support funds, potentially increasing developer engagement by 25%.
Integration Roadmap — Estimated 12-Month Deployment
Requirements Definition & System Design
Duration: 3 months
Define integration requirements with the licensee's existing systems and conduct detailed design for embedding the technology's price determination, adjustment, and external information acquisition units.
Prototype Development & AI Model Tuning
Duration: 6 months
Develop a prototype based on the design, then train and fine-tune the AI models (multiclass classifier, regression analysis) using the licensee's source code data.
Production Deployment & Market Rollout
Duration: 3 months
Deploy the system to a production environment after test operation, then begin rollout to source code trading platforms and related services. Establish post-deployment performance measurement and improvement cycles.
Technical Feasibility
This technology implements source code pricing logic as an AI module, making it easy to integrate into existing software trading platforms or development management systems via API linkage or module embedding. The 'price determination unit,' 'price adjustment unit,' 'external information acquisition unit,' and 'transaction mediation unit' described in the patent claims are designed as independent functions that can be integrated into existing system architectures without extensive infrastructure modification, demonstrating high technical feasibility.
Success Scenario
Upon adopting this technology, companies could significantly reduce the time and cost associated with source code valuation. The evaluation process is estimated to be up to 80% more efficient compared to manual assessment, allowing development resources to focus on creative activities. This could shorten the time-to-market for new services by an average of 20%, establishing competitive advantage earlier.
Patent Record
APPLICATION NO.
特願2021-115840
REGISTRATION NO.
7345203
FILING DATE
2021/07/13
GRANT DATE
2023/09/07
EXPIRATION DATE
2041/07/13
PATENT HOLDER
株式会社ＯＮＥ　ＡＣＴ
Examination History
2021年12月09日
手続補正書（自発・内容）
2021年12月09日
出願審査請求書
2023年02月28日
拒絶理由通知書
2023年04月28日
手続補正書（自発・内容）
2023年04月28日
意見書
2023年08月01日
特許査定