Every invention is valuable and valuable to the inventor. One can reap the full reward for his invention when it starts to generate monetary benefits. Besides, our intellectual property system does its best to recognize and protect the rights of the inventor. Now it is up to the inventor to effectively use the exclusive patent rights in his favor.
The patent itself would give courage to inventors to bring their inventions out in the open. Moreover, the patent adds value to the product or process among potential investors. However, merely obtaining a patent does not guarantee the commercial success of the product or process on the market. Not all invention or patent pending invention patent see market. It always requires one payment from the inventor to increase the demand for the patented invention. Let's take a look at some of the techniques and strategies to market your patent.
Patent Marketing Methods
Sell the patent
Sometimes a company may land on an invention that doesn't align with its business. In some cases, the invention process itself had drained all of the organization's money. In such cases, the organization or patent holder will be keen to obtain a quick return on investment in research and development of the invention. Hence, the inventor may sell the patent ownership and relinquish all of his patent rights to another party or organization (the assignee). The assignee pays compensation to the inventor for one time.
Organizations may also choose to sell their patents if the organization's focus is only on research and development, and it is not prepared to take on marketing risks. An inventor with insufficient connections to manufacture or market the product will find selling a patent an attractive option.
Patent licensing
Patent licensing is a practical and collective approach to commercializing a patent. There are different types of licenses available. Hence, the patent holder (i.e. the licensor) must thoroughly study licensing options, weigh the profits in each type of license, and then decide.
A patent owner can choose the exclusive license and grant the rights to manufacture, sell or sell the patented product to only one organization. One can grant the exclusive license on a global scale or within a geographical area.
The licensee can grant the license to more than one organization through non-exclusive licenses. As a result, multiple licensees will manufacture the same product. The high competition among licensees has the potential to lower the market price of the product. It can also reduce the licensing fee income for a licensee.
Guarantee of a right-hand patent license
The licensor must study and filter potential and capable licenses before licensing a patent. This will ensure the commercialization of the patented product. It is always wise to set goals or milestones (for example, sales numbers) that a licensee must achieve within a certain period of time.
These performance obligations will keep the licensee active and will put the product on the market soon. This is because the sooner the product reaches the market, it is ahead of competitors, and generates more revenue for the licensor. Further, the licensee can terminate the license if the licensee is unable to fulfill the performance obligations.
Determine licensing fees
We must analyze the patent value to calculate the license fee. The most common strategy for determining the compensation amount is by benchmarking. First of all, the parties compare the patent with old and current technologies. After that, the two parties carefully study the licenses and agreements already in place and arrive at the licensing fee.
Meanwhile, if the invention is very new, and cannot be compared with current technologies, companies take a different approach. The licensee calculates the estimated expenditures for manufacturing and marketing the product and then compares them with the risks.
Self-manufacturing and outsourcing
The patent holder may decide to manufacture and market his patented product in his organization. However, it may be successful in a scenario where the invention is new and there is a high potential for the product to succeed in the market. Moreover, the novelty of the invention would give it a competitive advantage over the market. Meanwhile, the patent holder will be responsible for the risks in producing and marketing the product.
An inventor can also outsource the production process alone to another company. This would enable them to sell the product in their brand name without risking any investment in the plant's machinery.
Patent enforcement
Patents give the patent holder exclusive rights to stop others from manufacturing, marketing or marketing the patented product, process, or design. Sometimes, a third party may use the patented inventions or design a similar product without prior permission from the inventor. In such cases, the patent owner can file a lawsuit against the third party for violating his patent rights.
The court will issue an injunction to the third party to stop infringement of patent claims. Moreover, the patent holder will become eligible for financial benefits or sometimes royalties to compensate the economic loss caused by the third party. The patent owner can also negotiate with the third party to legally license the patent. As a result, the mutual agreement would not only be beneficial to the third party and patent holder, but would also serve to commercialize the patent.
Marketing
In rare cases, some inventions are completely new. There may not be any such product on the market. Nevertheless, the invention may hold the key to solving a major problem. In such cases, the patent holder can devise a marketing plan to sell the product. However, over time, there are great opportunities for the emergence of more innovative and improvised products on the market. Thus, the inventor has to move his marketing strategy from a new product to offering an economically feasible product. This should help the inventor to stay on the market.
Although these methods carry a high risk, they allow the patent holder to participate directly in the manufacturing process. This, in turn, will give the patent holders a sense of satisfaction.
These are some of the basic strategies an organization or patent holder can adopt to market a product or patent technology. It is wise to thoroughly study and adopt the strategy that fits the invention to obtain maximum benefits.