And especially the lottery thing is the nature of IP business - you never know if you win or not.
There are enough examples of IP companies which failed to make money out of their patents - and only a few which were able to capitalize on it.
How many of those companies held/hold the most important patents in the semiconductor world?? The so called patents on water...
How many of those companies have licensed said patents to 90 or so worldwide companies??
eight cents