Commercialise Your Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property (IP) can be immensely valuable in enhancing a business’s reputation, but not every business employs its IP in the most effective way. A company’s IP can make a business or product appear unique and set it apart from its competitors, and in this sense, IP assets can be even more valuable than some tangible assets.

However, having a valuable IP asset is not enough. Knowing how to protect the IP is key in ensuring that it remains valuable, therefore, enhancing a company’s valuation and goodwill, and preventing competitors from gaining an unfair advantage by infringing upon your IP.

We’ve helped many businesses to commercialise their IP and turn what may be an underappreciated asset into a new revenue stream. We also provide specialist legal advice on licensing IP, assigning IP, franchising your business, and accurately valuing IP so that you can ensure you receive a fair price if you sell your intellectual property.

If you would like to know more about options for protecting and leveraging your business’ IP, contact us on 0345 872 6666. Alternatively, fill in our online enquiry form to request a call back at a convenient time.

How JMW Can Help

Our broad expertise in IP law means we can advise on many different aspects of intellectual property commercialisation and protection. The commercialisation of IP is worth getting right, which is why it is important to seek advice from legal experts in the field. Some of the services we can provide include:

• Reviewing your IP portfolio and advising on the best ways to commercialise your IP depending on your IP. Our advice is tailored to your IP assets and commercial objectives.
• Assisting in registering trademarks, including advising on any risks associated with registering your chosen trademarks.
• If acting for a licensor, advising on licensing arrangements and ensuring they are watertight. Licensors must ensure that their rights are not prejudiced and that they retain control over the use of the brand while receiving the benefit of either royalty payments or an annual licence fee
• If acting for a licensee, ensuring the obligations placed upon it are proportionate and not excessively onerous. It is important that a licensee can take action in respect of third-party infringements. It is also important that the licence fee accurately reflects the value of the brand and ties into the revenue model.
• If acting for the assignee or franchisor, ensuring a thorough IP due diligence on the assignor and/or franchisee is conducted and analysing the results for any associated risks. We can then advise on any areas of risk and provide commercial solutions for overcoming such risks, in line with your commercial objectives.
• Advising on non-disclosure agreements to ensure confidential information shared during the negotiation process is not divulged afterwards (especially applicable for assignment agreements).

Ways to Commercialise Your Intellectual Property

There are a number of ways businesses can protect and commercialise IP, because the term ‘intellectual property’ itself covers a wide variety of different intangible assets. Below, we’ve outlined some of the main strategies businesses may consider, but it’s important to speak to a specialist solicitor to determine what intellectual property assets you have and how best to exploit them.

Licensing intellectual property rights

This involves the holder of an intellectual property asset (licensor) granting permission to the licensee to use its IP within the limits set by the provisions of the licensing agreement. 

Licensing agreements can take various forms. For instance, an entity may provide a trademark licence granting the rights to use that brand in exchange fo royalties or an annual licence fee. Alternatively, a company may choose to enter into a franchising agreement, which would allow the franchisee to operate its business under the brand of the franchisor, while assisting enhancing the franchisor’s reputation.  

If you are intending to license your IP rights, you can do so by providing exclusive (i.e only the licensee is able to use the licensed IP, and not the licensor) or non-exclusive licensing rights (i.e  the licensee and the licensor can both use the licensed IP).

Valuing your Intellectual Property

The value of your IP is possibly the most important consideration when it comes to commercialising your intangible assets. Ultimately, the main goal for either an assignor or licensor is to ensure they are receiving the best possible monetisation of their IP. There are a number of ways to value IP, including:

• Assessing levels of future earnings expected from the IP;
• Evaluating costs incurred during the production and development of the IP; and
• Conducting market research to understand how much third parties may be willing to pay for other similar IP assets.

Our team has years of combined experience in IP cases, and has a strong understanding of how much different intangible assets are worth. We can ensure that you are paid fairly for any use or sale of your IP by a third party.