Finding the Right Patent Broker

An Alternative to Consider

An alternative to patent assertion is to sell your patent. For this you will need the services of a patent broker. Like a real estate broker or an insurance broker that matches sellers with buyers and buyers with sellers, a patent broker matches patent sellers with patent buyers and patent buyers with patent sellers.

Most patent brokers will only take on a patent for representation on an exclusive basis, so the patent broker you select to represent you in the monetization of your patent will be critical to if you successfully monetize (sell, license or otherwise generate revenue from your patent) your patent. The better patent brokers use a combination of marketing & promoting your patent to thousands of prospective buyers and licensees through direct response, website listings, public relations and other means of creating a list of prospective buyers and licensees and taking your patent to each prospect. A patent broker should lists its patents for sale at its website, and its website should be search-engine-optimized to prospective buyers can find it.

Make sure the patent broker you select has experience in the technology of your patent and has contacts in the industry into which your patent is most likely to be sold or licensed. Also have the patent broker give you a detailed description of the services it will provide as part of its program to monetize your patent. The reputable patent brokers do not take any funding up front, but work on contingency. They are paid an agreed-to fee once they find a buyer or licensee and consummate the sale or licensing of your patent.

You need to know that very few companies license patents anymore. Most companies want to buy the patent, own it, practice it, and enforce it against any and all infringers. So a sale of your patent is far more likely that a licensing deal.

The larger patent broker firms offer additional services. Many offer patent valuation services. It is sometimes helpful to have a third-party valuation of your patent before you go to market as it will be helpful in negotiating a sale price with a buyer. Many patent brokers also offer IP consulting services that are especially valuable to small business that own patents but not have the internal staff required to properly manage and deploy its IP assets.