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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2017
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Schedule of Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis [Table Text Block] | Financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis were as follows (in thousands):
| Level 1 |  | Level 2 |  | Level 3
Assets as of December 31, 2017: |  |  |  |  |
Investment at fair value (Note 7)(1) | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 104,754 |
Assets as of December 31, 2016: |  |  |  |  |
Short-term investments(1) | $ | 19,443 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |
Schedule of Share-based Payment Award, Stock Options, Valuation Assumptions [Table Text Block] | The fair values of stock options granted during the periods presented were estimated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, based on the following weighted-average assumptions:
| For the Years Ended
| December 31, 2017 |  | December 31, 2016
Risk-free interest rate | 1.77% |  | 1.1%
Term | 4.37 |  | 3.06
Volatility | 51% |  | 53%
Dividend yield | —% |  | —%
Property and Equipment, Useful Lives | Depreciation and amortization is computed on a straight-line basis over the following estimated useful lives of the assets:
Furniture and fixtures | 3 to 5 years
Computer hardware and software | 3 to 5 years
Leasehold improvements | 2 to 5 years (Lesser of lease term or useful life of improvement)
Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Basic and Diluted | The following table presents the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding used in the calculation of basic and diluted income per share:
|  | 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2015
Numerator (in thousands): |  |  |  |  |  |
Basic and Diluted |  |  |  |  |  |
Net income (loss) attributable to Acacia Research Corporation |  | $ | 22,180 |  |  | $ | (54,067 | ) |  | $ | (160,036 | )
Undistributed earnings allocated to participating securities |  | (33 | ) |  | — |  |  | — |
Total dividends declared / paid |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | (25,434 | )
Dividends attributable to common stockholders |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 24,740 |
Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders – basic and diluted |  | $ | 22,147 |  |  | $ | (54,067 | ) |  | $ | (160,730 | )
Denominator: |  |  |  |  |  |
Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per share attributable to common stockholders – basic |  | 50,495,119 |  |  | 50,075,847 |  |  | 49,505,817 |
Effect of potentially dilutive securities: |  |  |  |  |  |
Common stock options and restricted stock units |  | 196,893 |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Weighted-average shares used in computing net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders – diluted |  | 50,692,012 |  |  | 50,075,847 |  |  | 49,505,817 |
Basic and diluted net loss per common share |  | $ | 0.44 |  |  | $ | (1.08 | ) |  | $ | (3.25 | )
Anti-dilutive equity-based incentive awards excluded from the computation of diluted loss per share |  | 4,425,187 |  |  | 3,682,532 |  |  | 71,468 |

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- Definition Tabular disclosure of assets and liabilities, including [financial] instruments measured at fair value that are classified in stockholders' equity, if any, that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis. The disclosures contemplated herein include the fair value measurements at the reporting date by the level within the fair value hierarchy in which the fair value measurements in their entirety fall, segregating fair value measurements using quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level 1), significant other observable inputs (Level 2), and significant unobservable inputs (Level 3). + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 820 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66048111&loc=d3e19190-110258 + Details
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