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.