Wyrick Robbins Intellectual Property Attorneys Featured on eVenturing.org
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Articles authored by Wyrick Robbins attorneys John F. Fuscoe andJason S. Wood have been published by the Kansas City-basedKauffman eVenturing.org, an online publication for growth-oriented entrepreneurs subsidized by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
In his article "Focusing on the Value of Patents," John points out that while patents can provide a valuable competitive advantage, they are expensive to apply for and challenging to enforce. He counsels entrepreneurs to investigate licensing options, research the value of a patent to potential investors and learn from the patent experiences of similar companies before pursuing a patent strategy.
Jason's article, "Patents and Licensing University Technologies," addresses issues unique to licensing the rights to IP owned by universities, advising entrepreneurs to: conduct thorough due diligence to ensure that rights to all the relevant patents are included in any agreement they strike; determine whether they need exclusive rights and whether they are free to sub-license to their own business partners; and obtain the right to pursue patent infringers themselves and be consulted on any settlement agreements.