1. A computer-implemented method of computing an estimate of value EV of a first patent of a patent portfolio providing patent monopoly over an applicable period, the applicable period comprising a plurality of l subperiods, the patent portfolio comprising a plurality of n patents, the method comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining an average subperiodic value V of the patent portfolio over the applicable period; (b) generating a plurality of matrix elements p i j , one matrix element p i j per combination of j th patent of the patent portfolio and sequential subperiod i of the applicable period, so that the following relationship is satisfied for 1≦i≦l: ∑ j = 1 n ⁢ p i j = K , where K is a real number and a constant; (c) computing a first patent weight index p 1 for the first patent by aggregating matrix elements p i 1 associated with the first patent over all subperiods; (d) computing the estimate of value EV of the first patent according to the formula EV = p 1 K × V _ ; and (e) providing the estimate of value EV through an output device; wherein at least the steps (c) and (d) are performed using one or more computing devices.