September, 2009

IP commercialisation is one of the most crucial aspect of IP management. It implies the real marketing of the IP by realising its commercial value. There are different mechanism of commercialisation and involves strategic and policy decision of the management. If the management has capital support and manufacturing facility it may commercialise the IP in house and in other cases it may decide to go through the process of marketing either by licensing or by assignment. In case of licensing, the owner of IP may decide to give up the right of commercialising or manufacturing but not the ownership but in case of assignment, the owner does not retain any right of ownership. In case of licence, the owner gets royalty, which can be calculated in different ways and in case of assignment the sale price may be determined by way of IP valuation through experts.

IP licensing can be either exclusive or non-exclusive. The exclusivity may be for the product, field or territory or the combination of any of these. The owner of IP may also look for other mode of optimizing the revenue by retaining the right to manufacture and to grant exclusive right of marketing or by licensing manufacturing right to one party and marketing right to another and for selling right to yet another party. There can be other mode of commercialisation through venture capitalists or through a joint venture. Franchising is another mode of licensing where each licence is a part of a larger network with uniformity in application of technology or the brand. The franchisee right can itself be sold or assigned to a third party at any stage of its creation.

IP commercialisation can be undertaken by the IP owner himself or to outsource through IP Exchange or through IP auction or through some IP broking company. There are several companies which conduct IP auction of patent at periodic intervals. Ocean Tomo is one of the renowned name in the field but many others are emerging in European market. ITAG has developed association with some of such internationally acclaimed agencies for IP commercialisation of its valued clients and more details are available at www.ipcommercialisation.com.

IP commercialisation involves a number of steps including valuation, taxation implication, drafting of agreement for licensing or for assignment. It is very important for a research based organization to identify and maintain a track record of its various technologies and in order to harness the proper return on investment, it should develop a proper IP policy and strategy for IP commercialisation which can not only offset the cost of costly research activities but can become a profit center for the organization. The role of R&D centers in the present era of competition also help management to do a competitive intelligence exercise through IP analysis and technology landscaping and to resort to freedom to operate (FTO) and cross licensing to avoid IP litigation. Thus the job of R&D center is very crucial in the overall IP management of an enterprise and it is possible only through an efficient IPR cell in the center which can function under the able advice and in conjunction of an expert team of dedicated IP consultant who has the expertise of legal, technical and commercial team in their organization. ITAG is a unique company in this field where one can find all three expertises at one place. ITAG has also developed strategic alliances with different expert and reputed organization at global level to provide world class services under one roof.

--Dr. D. R. Agarwal