Monetization

Many businesses may not realise that their Intellectual Property rights are their most valuable assets and that they can be leveraged as a useful source of revenue.

One of the most effective ways of generating revenue stream from designs; copyright and trademarks is through licensing. By allowing others to use your IP rights by means of a written licence, a business can not only recoup expenditure incurred in developing and protecting its IP, but may also be able to generate an on-going revenue stream through the collection of royalties.

Licences can arise in a variety of scenarios be it through the settlement of a conflict with a third party or by being simply approached by a contract manufacturer wishing to legitimately use your Intellectual Property. An advantage of a successful licensing arrangement is that you can ask the licensee to either share or assume the burden in policing your brand.

By registering a licence against the respective IP right, a licensee can ensure that its rights are protected in the event of the ownership of the IP right being acquired by a third party. Niall has expertise in drafting, negotiating and recording licences of trade marks and designs. If you have been approached by a potential licensee who is interested in using your trade marks and designs, please contact Niall at office@tierneyip.com. Alternatively, if you are a licensee wishing to enter into a licence with an IP holder and want to copper-fasten your rights under the licence, Niall can also assist in such a scenario.

IP owning businesses may also be surprised to learn that they can use their trade mark and design to secure needed loan capital or investment finance. This is particularly so if the relevant IP right has generated a regular stream of revenue for the business owner. The holder of successful trade marks and designs may well find that a bank or investor would be willing to take a trade mark and or design registration as collateral for loan or investment finance. This means that the bank or investor retains a recorded interest in the relevant trade mark or design during the lifetime of the loan. Using your trade marks or designs is particularly useful in the event of a business is facing insolvency.

In some cases, a business may wish to spin out some of its trade marks and designs to third parties for a number of reasons, e.g. business diversification or buy out. Effectively, the business is assigning (transferring) its IP assets to an independent third party. Niall has many years of experience in drafting, negotiating and recording trade mark and design Assignments and can advise businesses on the implications of transferring trade mark registrations without or without the goodwill of business.

Before negotiating a commercial arrangement with a third party involving IP rights, it is vitally important that proper Due Diligence is undertaken. Failure to undertake proper Due Diligence could result in the wrong asset being licensed or transferred or missed altogether. Very often these mistakes are very difficult to rectify post transaction. Niall has an incisive understanding of trade marks and designs and the factors which affect their veracity and integrity. These factors and issues can only be revealed through detailed and extensive Due Diligence. Please contact us if you would like for advice and assistance.