Bench to Community Seminar - Series 2, Seminar 9: Licensing Your Innovation, IP, Technology or Product

Licensing intellectual property to another company for manufacturing and/or distribution is an excellent alternative to building them yourself. Attendees will learn about different licensing models and the corresponding business model supported. Attendees will be introduced to standard license elements, and particular attention will be paid to those most litigated or renegotiated.  Attendees will also be introduced to cash alternatives sometimes used by startups. 

Topics:

• What can be licensed and when is a license necessary

• How does licensing support my business?  Why not just do it myself?

• The license process: term sheets, option agreements, exclusive and non-exclusive licenses

• Elements of a license: term, field of use, country specific rights, termination, development milestones, signing fees and milestone payments, royalty rates, royalty stacking, sublicense and transfer rights

• License terms most commonly litigated or renegotiated: royalty base, obligations in the future

• Renegotiating a license: why, when can it be done, what does the process look like

• Alternatives to cash such as equity and debt instruments or use of IP as collateral: advantages and disadvantages