Companies often need to strengthen their patent portfolios for cross-licensing negotiations, bringing a lawsuit, or securing freedom to operate. Buying patents is the fastest way to strengthen a portfolio.
A patent purchasing program usually takes 6 months to a year and follows the process described below.
To find patents of interest, we iterate through the following steps:
The output is a list of candidate patents for purchase.
We are highly experienced at patent searching and screening, having done many of these projects. We can fine-tune the searching and screening to meet the buyer’s exact needs. We work globally, contacting patent owners wherever they are located. We ensure that the buyer’s name is kept confidential until the buyer allows us to disclose it, which is often in the final stages of negotiation with patent owners. We are compensated on a success-fee only basis.Given the vast number of technical fields, it is unlikely that any broker would currently be selling patents of interest. It is better to do a patent search, find suitable patents, then contact the patent owners (either directly or through a third-party such as a broker) and ask if the owner would be willing to sell the patents of interest.
A patent purchasing program usually takes 6 months to a year.
Buying patents is faster than applying for and obtaining patents. Therefore, buying patents is a good way to augment a company's patent portfolio.
Many companies purchasing patents do not want to disclose their name. Therefore, they work through a broker or other third-party to contact patent owners. Depending on the level of confidentiality required, the transaction can be structured so that the seller does not know the buyer's identity until just before the transaction closes, or even until after the transaction closes. We offer services to maintain buyer confidentiality.
First, have clear objectives. What are the business objectives? What are the legal objectives? From this, derive the parameters of the patents you want to buy: number of patents, technical fields, evidence of use required, level of legal due diligence required. Then, set up a clear buying process. The process iterates through patent searching and screening, contacting patent owners and negotiating patent purchases. Finally, make sure you have allocated budget, resources, and time for the program and check with someone who has experience in these projects your objectives and budgets are realistic.
