Issue link: https://htpgraphics.uberflip.com/i/116731
How to License Section 3 You will benefit from practising for effective presentations in the pre-deal phase. Your IP commercialisation team will be familiar with how to present in licence proposal situations and can both advise you, as well as rehearse with you as part of a co-ordinated team approach/presentation. This type of preparation is very important and will enhance credibility and therefore the chances of capturing serious interest and attention. Agreeing terms This will obviously be the result of a negotiation. In general, it is best to develop the discussion about the terms over time through a series of sessions, rather than in one or two formal bargaining events over the table. It is usually best to see the licence arrangement for what it is – which is a risk-sharing partnership, rather than a "them-and-us" situation. Whether you are planning to license to a large firm or an SME, it is sure to be the case that the potential licensee will have a great deal of experience in the development and marketing of products and services and will have a good feel for the time and effort that it will have to put into taking your IP to market. In addition, it can also be a hugely costly affair to transform raw or even partially developed IP into goods, process improvements or services. Hence the potential licensee will need to debate with you the business case, in order to share with you its specific experience and inputs. Through such a process, it should become more apparent to you and the potential licensee what the cost-benefit parameters are of agreeing a deal. Thus the "best" deals and licence contracts generated from research institution offerings, are those that arise out of a good relationship and understanding, not usually out of adopting a tough negotiating stance. It is a matter of finding the right balance between deriving fair reward for the actual contribution that your IP will eventually contribute to commercial success and the incentive and value to the licensee in spending the time and the risk on the IP. Negotiation is definitely an art which does require a lot of experience so that all requests and discussions are credible. So this is where you should make use of and have a good understanding with your IP commercialisation 18