Your intellectual property is a bundle of rights that can be licensed in many ways. Licensing your IP to several industries, or for different products, or to a single licensing partner are different strategies. The right one will multiply your royalty revenues. But the wrong strategy locks up your IP and costs you more than lost revenues.
Using the right strategy saves problems down the road. For example, you license out rights with broad distribution channels, only to realize an opportunity to license another company later on. The problem is you can’t license this new company because your current licensee has all the distribution rights. And to get the rights back, your licensing partner wants compensation (or other rights) to give up the distribution channels. Now you’re prevented from licensing your IP, and worse, it ties up several distribution channels not being exploited by your current licensee, costing you new revenue opportunities.
To be successful, you must start with a licensing plan and strategy detailing what and how you will license your IP. Your strategy details your licensing options – the different ways you can license your IP. The licensing plan details the steps you’ll take to move from point A to B. For example, you may decide as a strategy to license your new invention to several companies in different markets, such as toys and gifts. Your plan then identifies which companies are best suited and what steps you must take to license it to each of them.
Your licensing strategy includes details about your IP rights, how they will be licensed, who’s the right type of licensing partner, how you’ll market and promote it, and what are the key deal terms. To help you get started, here are 3 key questions:
- What is your IP, and how does it work?
- What IP rights are you licensing?
- What kind of information will you offer?
Your licensing strategy guides you in figuring out the right licensing options for your IP. Keep in mind you may use more than one strategy to maximize your income opportunities. But without a strategy, you can wind up giving away rights, missing income opportunities, or worse, signing an agreement with the wrong kind of licensing partner.
These are only 3 of the 15 critical questions from the Licensing Strategy Creator Questionnaire. It’s one of the core tools inside the Licensing Toolkit, a one-of-a-kind resource that gives you the how-to steps and time-saving shortcuts to get your licensing program in motion and put your IP to work making money for you.
The Licensing Toolkit is the only resource of its kind that teaches you the five essential tools for licensing success. With the Licensing Toolkit, you’ll avoid the biggest licensing mistakes and take the right action to create money-making licensing deals with your IP.
Click here to get the Licensing Toolkit.
