Contractual Agreements to Maximize Gains - Introduction
Now that you have learned about the preliminary steps to commercialisation and understood how to protect your IPRs, it is time to think about how you can make money out of them. YES, YOU CAN! These Sections present various contractual arrangements that you can use to maximize profits for your business by strategically commercializing your IPRs.
As already mentioned, IP assets are similar to your other tangible assets. Thus, just as you can sell your apartment or rent it, you can also license, lease, transfer, or in short, commercialize your IP assets. The big advantage, in this regard, is that while you can rent your apartment only to one person, you have the possibility of licensing (which is the jargon term equivalent to “renting”) your IPRs to several different persons and companies at the same time, precisely because they are intangible and …virtually non-exhaustible. For example, you may authorize three different persons to use your IPRs in your country. You could replicate this model for all the countries in which you are going to do business and you will receive royalties for having granted to third parties the privilege of using your IPRs.
However, a prerequisite for your successful exploitation and commercialisation of your IPRs is A WELL DRAFTED CONTRACT. So, your journey of monetizing your IP assets starts with a contract. These contracts are a crucial tool for various aspects of your business, in your relationships with your employees and your potential counterparts to whom you may want to license your IPRs, transfer your technology, or with whom you wish to enter into a joint venture or a franchising agreement, and so on. This part of the website should provide you with tips and suggestions to help you design your strategy for commercializing your IP assets through the most appropriate contractual instrument.
A small disclaimer: While this guide will help you understand various forms of contractual arrangements and their pros and cons, it is highly advisable to seek professional/legal advice when entering into any form of contract. Remember, once you sign a contract, you are obliged to follow it. There is no looking back.
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