Protecting your intellectual property takes time. Especially if it is a patent. Waiting to complete your patent application can take up to three years. What do you do in the meantime?
Developing a patent may feel like an interminable process, but it doesn’t have to stall your business goals. Once you’ve filed for protection and the application is in progress, there’s no time like the present to consider licensing opportunities – as long as your IP works and is market ready. Make sure all claims are solid so that when it comes time for approval from up high, three years won’t mean any lost revenue along the way!
Ensuring you’re protecting your IP’s most valuable parts is key. For instance, if you have multiple inventions, narrow it down to the one with the most commercial potential and patent that – because that’s where your focus should be when looking for a return on investment. Don’t forget, though: getting bogged down in legal expenses won’t get you any closer to making money with your patented invention – so don’t confuse licensing with being an entirely judicial process; instead, license out what could potentially make more money!
Remember, creating IP is only the first step in a much bigger journey, and unfortunately, it’s one that many inventors don’t take. They’re so worried about protecting their work from infringement they forget actually to do something with it! That doesn’t mean you have to go all-in on development – licensing your product can be an amazing way of finding reliable partners who are just as keen to protect what matters most: Your Intellectual Property. With appropriate legal protection provided by someone else’s deep pockets, you could potentially monetize your invention without having to fork out costly defense fees against infringers down the line.
Developing IP can feel like a tricky legal balancing act: make sure you don’t get weighed down in attempting to perfect the protection process; otherwise, you risk missing out on making money from your creativity and innovation! Let’s chat about how we can find the right balance for your valuable IP; I’ll help give insight into any licensing options that could open up new paths for monetizing it.
