Patent rating by PatentRatings, no law degree required?

Merely for information,
from
http://www.patentratings.com/001/ratings.sv
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PatentRatings has developed and patented a proprietary rating system -- the Intellectual Property Quotient or "IPQ" -- for objectively scoring and rating patent assets based on a proven statistical methodology. IPQ scores are similar to the familiar IQ score for rating human intelligence (median = 100). IPQ scores provide a simple ("no law degree required"), easy to understand yard-stick for measuring and comparing patent quality/value based on the cumulative characteristics of patents that make them statistically either more likely or less likely to produce economic returns. IPQ scores can be mathematically combined/averaged so as to ascertain an average IPQ score for an entire patent portfolio or any other defined population of patents.

Scores are unique to each particular patent examined and are updated quarterly. Scores are based on certain identified predictor variables ("metrics") determined to have statistically significant correlation to the payment of patent maintenance fees (periodic taxes paid to the U.S. Patent Office). The premise of the rating model is that more valuable, higher-quality patents will be maintained at a higher frequency (have a longer life) than less valuable patents. Typical metrics include, for example, the number, length and type of patent claims, the amount and type of prior art cited, the number of forward citations or references made by later-issued patents [patent citations], the presence or absence of limiting claim language, the patent prosecution history and about 30 other relevant factors.

IPQ scores are directly predictive of patent maintenance rates and life expectancies. Thus, for example, the graph and table below illustrate estimated life expectancies for rated patents based on a study population of about 100,000 patents.
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