Use IP Lawyers to Choose the Right Protection for Your Patent

Registering a patent or any kind of intellectual property does not mean that you have to immediately produce something as a result. It is worth considering, though, that the protection may only last for a certain amount of time and so you would be well advised to try and profit from it commercially as much as you can - this might mean not doing it by yourself.

One way to make the most of a patent and make sure it gets to market quickly is to permit others a license to use the technology by making items that benefit from your invention and then paying you a sales based royalty. Although the exclusive rights rest with the inventor, they may not be able to exploit the discovery alone, and it may be that developments made by others are instrumental in creating the market for the new invention.

If this happens, there are several things you can do. Firstly, the inventor could sell the entire patented invention either for a lump sum or a share of future profits - in the business, this is known as assignment of rights.

Alternatively, it may be possible to license your intellectual property. A license, which should be drawn up by specialist IP lawyers, is a legally binding agreement that allows other parties to manufacture, use or develop an inventor's creation. The agreement might limit the licensee's activities to a certain business sector or geographical area. The licensing agreement should make clear the method by which the licensee will make payments to the inventor, and over what time period the license agreement is scheduled to be valid.

Thirdly, there is a know-how contract. This could be on top of or as well as a license and it specifies the terms by which the inventor will give another party his knowledge. Know-how can often be tangible and can include useful industrial information such as diagrams, architectural drawings or client records and job descriptions. A big issue with know-how contracts is the prevention of someone newly introduced to the information, from going on to share it with other people that they are not authorised to pass it to.

In all of the above situations, it is advisable to get expert intellectual property advice from specialist IP lawyers. They will help you to choose the best way to ensure your development is protected, draw up agreements to share and exploit your invention and also make sure that any legal contracts will hold their own in court if that becomes necessary in future.


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Tim Bishop is senior partner at Bonallack & Bishop, a legal firm with a team of specialist IP Lawyers (http://www.intellectual-property-lawyer.co.uk ) experienced in providing intellectual property advice. He has grown the firm by 1000% in 13 years and has plans for continued expansion, seeing himself as a businessman who owns a law firm.