As a creator or owner of an original work, your registered piece of intellectual property (IP) is arguably your most valuable asset. In an effort to expand its recognition, you may be strongly considering licensing it out to an external third party. While this may be a strategic business move on your part, this may have you putting your neck out on the line, so to speak. To reduce the risk of this potentially backfiring on you, it is in your best interest to hire a lawyer. Without further ado, please read on to discover why you should hire a seasoned New Jersey licensing agreement lawyer from The Ingber Law Firm today.
Why should I hire a lawyer before entering a licensing agreement?
You may assume that you have a wealth of knowledge in IP law given that you have been the creator or owner of original works for quite some time now. However, nothing may be able to prepare you for an incident where an external third party, unwilling to dedicate the same amount of hard work as you, infringes upon your IP to make a profit for themselves. Well, this is a very real possibility if you do not have an iron-clad licensing agreement with this third party.
So, your lawyer may work on your behalf to prepare, draft, and negotiate a licensing agreement that is fair and also maximizes the return on your IP rights, all while protecting them from unfair competition, theft, and infringement. It may be worth investing in legal assistance now, since it may cost you more time and money to enter IP litigation proceedings due to an inadequate licensing agreement in the future.
However, should you already find yourself in a position where your licensing agreement was breached, our team of lawyers can also step in at this stage of the process. Specifically, we may work on your behalf to obtain a temporary restraining order or an order to conduct product seizures against the negligent party. This is while we assist you in presenting your argument during your litigation proceedings.
How should I prepare for my initial consultation with an IP lawyer?
In short, the more you prepare for your initial consultation with one of our lawyers, the more we can help you kickstart a licensing agreement. So, we ask that you take some time to gather background information on your original work that may give us context. This may include samples of the IP on your products or marketing materials, copies of your formal registration certificates with federal offices, and more.
Then, we ask that you reflect on what you want to get out of this licensing agreement, and where your boundaries lie. This is because it is important for your contract to be clear on where the external third party may be allowed to use your IP and for how long. This should be along with how much they should pay you in royalties, their standards for sub-licensing to other parties, and more.
If you have gotten this far, we now ask you to reach out to a competent Essex County, New Jersey intellectual property lawyer to schedule an initial consultation. Overall, we strongly encourage you to retain legal representation from The Ingber Law Firm for all your licensing agreement needs.