Patent Brokerage and Patent Brokers
Patent brokerage is the selling, licensing or other monetization of a patent by an agent who represents the patent owner. Patent brokerage is a complex process that requires identifying specific applications for the invention covered by a patent, then matching those applications with prospects who are most likely to acquire or license that patent.
Most patent brokers use the same patent brokerage business model. They make cold calls. They agree to represent your patent or portfolio, they develop a list of likely buyers or licensees, and they contact those prospects one by one. By telephone, by email, by regular mail, even via fax. And they keep making cold calls until they receive an offer or they run out of prospects.
IPOfferings is the ONLY patent broker to operate on a totally different and unique patent brokerage business model. ONLY IPOfferings develops, designs and implements a comprehensive marketing campaign for each patent or portfolio we represent. The other patent brokers may claim that they put together a “marketing program” or a “marketing plan” for the patents they represent, but they really just make sales calls. There is no genuine marketing involved in the process. Cold calling is the extent of the patent brokerage services that all the other brokers offer.
❖ Comprehensive Marketing Campaign: IPOfferings is the ONLY patent brokerage firm to actually use proven marketing concepts to promote and sell the patents and portfolios we represent. ONLY IPOfferings implements a marketing campaign that puts our clients’ patents in front of tens of thousands of prospects! There are five key elements to the marketing campaigns we develop, design and execute for our clients.
- Patent Value Quotient™ Report:
IPOfferings is the ONLY patent broker that researches and reports actual patent transactions on an annual basis, and provides that data free-of-charge to the IP and business communities. The data in the Patent Value Quotient is used throughout corporate America to establish patent value. This report, first published in 2012, gives IPOfferings a status and reputation that no other patent broker has. Just one of the benefits of being publisher of the Patent Value Quotient is that patent buyers come to us. When we agree to represent a patent or portfolio, we sometimes already have buyers lined up to buy it! - IP MarketPlace™ Newsletter:
IPOfferings is the ONLY patent brokerage firm that publishes a monthly e-letter that features the patents and portfolios we represent. Some other patent brokers publish newsletters, but they do not feature the patents they represent in their newsletters. IP MarketPlace goes to over 9,000 opt-in corporate and IP executives. In the time it would take to cold call one prospect, IPOfferings reaches thousands of prospects! When a property is featured in IP MarketPlace, we often receive inquiries that turn into prospects that turn into buyers or licensees – without ever making any cold calls! - Patent Marketplace:
IPOfferings is the ONLY patent broker to list the patents and portfolios it represents at a search-engine-optimized (SEO) website. Some patent brokerage firms list the properties they represent at their websites, but no one ever visits those websites, so no one ever sees them! Go to any search engine and type in “patent broker” or “patent brokerage” or “patents for sale” and see what patent broker websites show up on the first page of search results. The sites that rank in the Top 10 – like www.IPOfferings.com – get thousands of visitors. The website that ranks 11th or 111th or 1,011th gets NO visitors! The IPOfferings site appears right at the top of the search results, and that insures that the patents and portfolios we list in the Patent MarketPlace section of our website will be seen by those looking to acquire or license patents. Let’s face it, the easiest prospect to sell to is the one who is looking for what you have! When we add a new property to our website, we often receive inquiries that turn into prospects that turn into buyers or licensees – without ever making any cold calls! - Trade Press Coverage:
IPOfferings is the ONLY patent brokerage firm to generate news coverage for the patents and portfolios we represent in the trade press for that property’s industry. At the In the News page at our website you will see just some of the most recent news coverage we’ve generated for the patents and portfolios we represent. A typical trade magazine will go to tens of thousands of industry executives, and will expose the patents and portfolios represented by IPOfferings to buyers or licensees that no broker would have ever located via cold calling. An article in a trade magazine will often generate inquiries that turn into prospects that turn into buyers or licensees – without every making any cold calls! - Superior Marketing Piece:
IPOfferings is the ONLY patent brokerage firm to produce a state-of-the-art marketing piece for each patent or property we represent that can be read on three different levels. The typical marketing piece developed by the typical patent broker looks like a college term paper – page after page of paragraphs of text – and they are deathly dull. Request an IPOfferings’ Patent Brokerage Prospectus, then ask another broker for a sample of what it sends out to prospects, compare the two, and you be the judge. Whom do you want to develop and design a marketing piece for your patent(s)?
Once we’ve executed our unique marketing campaign for a client we’ve often received numerous inquiries, a handful of serious prospects, and a few offers. And we are able to close a deal and monetize our client’s patent(s) without ever making a single out-bound sales call.
❖ Comprehensive Sales Campaign: However, if our marketing program does not generate sufficient offers, we then turn to what every other patent broker does. We generate a prospect list, and take the patent or portfolio to prospective buyers or licensees. Our years of experience have taught us who the key decision makers are at a business when it comes to acquiring a patent. In many cases, we already know this person. If we do not, we have proprietary technology that enables us to quickly identify and reach exactly the right people. And, because of our excellent reputation and high profile in the IP community, we are able to get the properties we represent in front of buyers and licensees that other patent brokers never get to talk to! Additionally, we send out to prospects what is clearly a superior marketing piece. Our goal is develop multiple buyers or licensees, creating a bidding war for your patent or portfolio!
By spreading the widest possible net using proven marketing techniques, IPOfferings is able to put our clients’ patents in front of thousand more prospects than any other patent brokers could ever reach by just making cold calls. In fact, we often receive inquiries that develop into prospects that develop into buyers or licensees from companies we did not know existed, and no broker would have ever cold called!
You will have one chance to sell or license your patent or patent portfolio. The patent broker you select will definitely make a difference.
For some clients, IPOfferings works on a 100% contingency basis. If we have a very high level of confidence that we can successfully monetize our client's patent or patent portfolio, we will cover all marketing and out-of-pocket expenses ourselves. The client pays nothing. IPOfferings takes all the risks and covers all costs, and we are paid a Success Fee based on the revenue we generate for our client. If we do not have the highest level of confidence, but we still believe we can successfully monetize a client's IP assets, we then work on a partial contingency basis. We charge the client for our direct, out-of-pocket marketing costs, but we still put forth our best efforts to monetize the patent or portfolio on behalf of our client, and we are still incentified to monetize the patent or portfolio because our only income comes from a Success Fee that is based on the revenue we generate for our client. In the case of a partial contingency brokerage campaign, the marketing costs paid by the client are credited back to the client from the Success Fee.
If we do not believe that we can successfully monetize a patent or portfolio, we will let the patentee know that we have decided to decline to take on the patent or portfolio as a brokerage project. If requested, we will refer the patentee to other firms that may be help to assist.
The next step is to contact us at [email protected] or 845-337-6911. Be sure to download our Patent Brokerage Services data sheet.
