When I opened my email a few weeks ago on a Saturday morning, I came across a panicky message from one of my inventRight students asking me to review his licensing agreement. It was truly amazing -- the most thorough I've ever read, even! It had everything in it. He...
6 Qualities to Embrace During Licensing Contract Negotiations
I get the sense most people do not like to negotiate. Maybe it's the uncertainty of it all. Maybe it's the discomfort of having to ask for something. I look at negotiations a little differently. The way I see it, you begin negotiating the minute you submit your idea...
How Being Reasonable Helps Protect Your Product Ideas
There's an article in the February issue of this magazine that so perfectly captures why I believe it is crucial not to give anyone reason to work around you, I had to write about it. Every inventor's worst fear is having his idea stolen from him. I don't think ideas...
How to Tell What Your Invention is Worth
As a business model, licensing has always appealed to me. I enjoy being creative. I like working with my hands. If one of my inventions delighted a consumer, if it brought a smile to their face -- I felt like I'd won the lottery. That was what gratified me. Other...
How to License Your Idea to More Than One Company
Product ideas with huge market potential are few and far between. That doesn't stop inventors from dreaming about them though. How could it? What if the market is so big, we wonder, that not one but two companies will want to license our idea from us? What could be...
What to Do When Two Companies Want to License Your Idea
Licensing is a numbers game. I can't say that often enough. It's one thing to come up with an idea. But if you want to live the licensing lifestyle, you really have to commit to inventing and submitting many ideas to many companies. These days, I encourage my students...
5 Ways to Make Sure Your Licensing Deal Gets Done
One of my students emailed me recently to relay a disappointing story. He'd come up with an idea and pitched it to companies he thought might want to license it. One company called him back right away to tell him that it absolutely loved the idea.Bingo, he thought....
How to Negotiate a Licensing Agreement Like a Pro
Negotiating a licensing agreement takes time--more time than you will want it to. Every deal is unique, but in my experience, the negotiation process is largely the same. If you're an independent product developer, you may feel like you're at a disadvantage when it...
How to Get the Upper Hand in a Royalty Dispute
Licensing agreements are living documents that can change over time. Unfortunately, that's easy to lose sight of. After all, you worked hard to get an agreement in place. You spent weeks if not months hammering out every aspect of your future relationship with your...
8 Reasons Why Licensing Agreements Fail
Congratulations! A company wants to license your idea. That's fantastic. You are one step closer to living the licensing lifestyle. Don't get too excited though, because you're not done yet. There are so many issues that need to be worked out. And in reality, any of...