Invention Licensing
The Profits
A company or individual will be interested in licensing your invention if they can see a potential profit.
There are a number of factors that are considered when determining profitability.
The basic consideration is whether your invention can be manufactured and marketed at a cost, and sold in sufficient volume for a price, that will generate a desired profit.
The Statistics
Most inventions are not commercially successful. It is less than 10% of patents. Among inventors who are successful, invention licensing represents less than 1% of patents.The statistics are not encouraging.
Fiction & Facts
The failure rate is not entirely related to the inventions. It is best summarized by Ralph Waldo Emerson who said -"Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door."
Emerson was a literary scholar but he was not an inventor nor was he involved in invention licensing. The world does not beat a path to your door.
The world will only come to your door when your path is paved in gold - and that requires a bit of work.
You will need to convince others of the profitability of your invention. If you can do that - by using various tools - then your chances for licensing are far greater.
Not every potential licensing situation is the same and different strategies are used depending on the situation.
Words of Wisdom
"A famous quotation stated that if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door. That is not true, unless you are a good salesman as well as a good inventor" - Marcian (Ted) HoffPlanning
You can identify potential licensees during your patent research. You would then contact these companies and request information about their policies regarding working with inventors.Large companies generally will not speak to you about your invention or sign a non-disclosure agreement unless you have a patent or patent pending.
This is because they may be working on something similar and are concerned about litigation should you claim they stole your invention.
But you can research these companies until you're ready to approach them with all your tools in hand. A good strategy for invention licensing is to prove your invention makes money.
