Questions

I have a fully patented product that I believe could be of interest to a big infrastructure builder like GE, bombardier, UTC etc. There are tons of articles on how to sell small trinkets but this idea is much larger. I have already had an offer to be bought out by an IP company, but I think I can get a better deal where I still own the patent. How would you start in on getting a product licensed by one of these companies? Due to the nature of the project time is of the essence! Thanks so much!

The main issue in licensing is finding the right person to speak with who will be honest with you about the idea, the patents, and the prospects. When you deal with a seasoned licensing executive, they often have contacts that they can run ideas by to vet them out and improve the "pitch" portion of the licensing effort. This is very important as many great ideas are not great businesses or great products.

The right angle, the right timing and the right person need to come together to form the licensing deal.

If you do not have a seasoned licensing executive and are intent to pursue this on your own, try joining linked in (paid) and contacting people in the licensing/patenting/business units relating to your patent and discuss their similar products and product fits. This will help you adjust yourself to their business and to their business approaches/needs. Once this is done, you can then select someone to vet your patent with and to discuss how it will fit the business and see how this goes. Remember to ask for honest feedback. It is often very helpful and allows you to hone your communication to improve the chances of success.

Gordon

P.S. As an example, I was pitching a retail idea and found a retired retail executive (senior VP) to discuss it with. It turned out to not be such a good idea from within the retail organisations and there was no way to improve it. It died there and I saved months of effort trying to pitch a bad idea. Retired people are generally excellent resources both in terms of experience and knowledge and in terms of contacts within their former and their competitors' organisations.


Answered 9 years ago

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