Abstract: A statistical patent rating method and system is provided for independently assessing the relative breadth (“B”), defensibility (“D”) and commercial relevance (“R”) of individual patent assets and other intangible intellectual property assets. The invention provides new and valuable information that can be used by patent valuation experts, investment advisors, economists and others to help guide future patent investment decisions, licensing programs, patent appraisals, tax valuations, transfer pricing, economic forecasting and planning, and even mediation and/or settlement of patent litigation lawsuits. In one embodiment the invention provides a statistically-based patent rating method and system whereby relative ratings or rankings are generated using a database of patent information by identifying and comparing various characteristics of each individual patent to a statistically determined distribution of the same characteristics within a given patent population.