Patent Licensing

Monetize your Patent Assets

A patent license offers you a way to make money from your patent assets. Axenfeld Law can help you draft and negotiate a patent license to maximize the return you earn from your patent assets.

Specifically, a patent license agreement is a contract in which a patent owner grants certain rights under a patent to a licensee, such as a manufacturer or retailer, in exchange for payment of money. In some instances the money is paid as royalties over time. There are many considerations for a patent license. Some of these licensing consideration include:

• whether to make the grant of the license exclusive —where the patent owner grants a license to only one party
• whether to make the grant of the license non-exclusive — where the patent owner grants a license to multiple parties
• how broadly is the field of use provision in the license, and is it tied to payments
• whether payments are tied to gross or net sales
• whether payments are fixed, and/or royalty based
• the duration of the license agreement. For instance, some agreements have a duration of only a few years. Other license agreements last for the life of the patent asset(s). Other license agreements may terminate if minimum revenues benchmarks aren’t met by the licensee.
• whether to allow sublicensing. Sublicensing gives the licensee the right to grant certain rights to make or use the patent asset(s)
• whether to allow the licensee to transfer the license

Other Patent-Licensing Considerations

It is critical to appreciate that although you may have invented a revolutionary invention, if you are not adequately represented adequately during licensing negotiations, you may find that you’ve signed a license agreement that on its face looks great, but in reality nets you little to no revenue. Avoid a situation where a licensee benefits from the fruits of your intellectual assets, but fails to adequately pay you for your invention.

Thus it is sensible to hire a patent attorneys well versed in drafting hundreds of patent license agreements. Although you may spend a little more money to hire a patent attorney that understand licensing law, it is well worth your while to ensure a properly drafted patent license agreement.

Axenfeld Law Group’s patent attorneys have collectively drafted and negotiated hundreds of patent-license agreements. The patent licenses our patent attorneys have drafted involve conglomerate companies, start-up companies, physicians, inventors, and individual entrepreneurs. We’ve also drafted license agreement in almost every major industry including software, information technology, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, equipment, and devices.

If you’d like more information about our patent licensing services, and how we can help you draft a fruitful patent-license agreement, please contact Axenfeld Law.