INVENTION LICENSING

With the increasing pace of technology and consumer appetite for new products, product life cycles are shortening.  In order to maintain or grow market share, more and more companies are opening their doors to products that have been developed outside their company.  Consequently, it has become very rare for a company with a product line to not accept invention submissions.

NOTE:  As you consider a company to work with, focus on those with complementary brands and strong distribution into the channels you envision your invention selling.  This way, you are benefited by their brand and access to market, and they get a new innovative product to add to their line.

As with most deals, the key components to a license deal revolve around the financial arrangement.  Those are the royalty rate, advance (and/or bonus) and yearly minimums.  The royalty rate can be a percentage of sales or a set per unit amount; the advance is an amount at signing that serves as a portion of the royalties already due to the inventor; and the yearly minimums is a set amount of units that need to be sold each year for the company to retain the license.

NOTE: Be sure to include required reporting and a right to an audit to insure accurate payments.  Also, in the contract require the licensee to list you as a named insured in the product liability insurance.

Royalties range vastly across various industries.  In consumer markets (housewares, hardware, toy, etc.), commonly royalties range from 3-7% of the wholesale price.

The short answer is yes.  That said, a company is NOT looking for a project, they are looking for a product.  Consequently, an inventor needs to develop the product enough to at least prove the concept as well as develop a professional presentation so that it’s taken seriously.  This is where our Design for Licensing strategy comes in.

Our Design for Licensing^SM strategy is our proprietary system that develops your invention by taking into account exactly what a company needs to license it. We develop the critical components of your invention focusing on industrial design and position your product with marketing material that highlights your unique selling proposition to capture a company’s interest. No unnecessary engineering is performed that would accumulate bloated billable hours or fees — just a streamlined, cost effective approach that seeks to maximize an inventor’s chances of licensing their invention without breaking the bank.

Absolutely! Once your qualifying package is completed to your satisfaction, we would utilize our many contacts and begin reaching out to companies that are well positioned to get your product on the market and pay you a royalty. Our staff will make cold calls and attend trade shows to reach out to companies, professionally present your invention, negotiate royalties, prepare the contract and manage the license agreement.

First, it is important to note that that there are absolutely no out-of-pocket fees for those who utilize our licensing consultation services after the completion of a qualifying design package. That means you do not pay for our time, travel, office expenses, contract preparation, etc — since we are paid on contingency (or commission). We are paid as a percentage of the royalties/advances/minimums/buyouts that we get you…if we get you nothing, we are paid nothing. If we are successful, we receive 20% of the license income and you retain 80%. Finally, please note that our 20% only begins when you recoup the amount you paid to Enhance for the design work.