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Compare markets
Put up to four markets on the same ruler. The shapes do most of the explaining.
| Patents & intellectual property | Airport slots | |
|---|---|---|
| Exit difficulty | 5 | 5 |
| Volatility | 4 | 3 |
| Leverage | 1 | 2 |
| Carry cost | 4 | 3 |
| Fraud risk | 2 | 1 |
| Protection gap | 3 | 4 |
| Barrier to entry | 4 | 5 |
| Expertise needed | 5 | 5 |
| Difficulty | 63 Extreme | 63 Extreme |
| In a sentence | Time-limited legal monopolies that can be sold, licensed or enforced — and which are worth nothing at all unless someone is willing to litigate. | Permission to use a runway at a given time on a given day — worth tens of millions of pounds at Heathrow, and not, technically, owned by anyone. |
| Unit | One patent, or a portfolio | A slot pair: one arrival and one departure |
| Smallest realistic trade | Individual patents sell for low thousands; portfolios for millions | A single slot pair |
| Settlement | Assignment recorded at the patent office | Transfer approved and recorded by the slot coordinator |
The fingerprint measures how demanding a market is to take part in. It is not a rating or a recommendation.