Licensing patents falls into two categories:“stick” licensing, where patent owners seek compensation for current use of patented inventions, and “carrot” licensing, where patent owners seek licensees willing to develop new products based on their patented inventions.
We engage in carrot licensing.
Most of our licensing projects are in the medical devices and materials science industries. However, we will also consider licensing projects in other industries.
Our licensing projects follow four phases:
These are usually long-term projects, taking more than two years.
In general, we work on a success-fee basis. Therefore, we only undertake projects for which the patented invention offers a significant breakthrough, for which we are well-qualified, and which we believe will be successful.
Each approach has its merits. The best approach will depend on the technical field of the patents, whether the patents are currently infringed, the number of patents, and the patent owner's wishes. Selling is faster than licensing and has less risk, but licensing can bring more revenues. We will discuss with you the best approach for your portfolio.
Yes, we often take this approach. We test the market for interest in a purchase or a license of the patents. Based on the interest received, and discussions with the patent owner, we can select licensing or sale as the best strategy. Sometimes, we even license the patents to one or more companies, then then sell the patents to another company.
There are many different options when licensing patents: the license could be exclusive or non-exclusive; the license may be global or limited to a geographical territory; the license may or may not include sub-license rights; it may be limited to a field of use. And there are many different payment options, including a one-off payment (fully paid up license); running royalty (an amount per item or unit quantity); or a periodic license fee.
"Stick" licensing means seeking payment for current or past use of patents from an alleged infringer. Methods include sending a letter, seeking a meeting, or bringing a lawsuit or administrative procedure against the alleged infringer. Although these methods are of varying levels of aggression, all imply an adversarial relationship with the alleged infringer.
"Carrot" licensing means convincing an entity to pay a fee for future use of patents. It entails persuading the other party to practice your patented inventions in their products and to pay you, the patent owner, a corresponding license fee. It entails forming a win-win relationship: the licensee wins by having a new product to sell; the licensor wins by receiving a license fee.