Essentials of Licensing Intellectual Property Now Available From Wiley

January 26, 2004 – A new book that quickly and concisely teaches the nuts and bolts of licensing is now available in bookstores from John Wiley and Sons, Inc. ©2004.

Essentials of Licensing Intellectual Property, by Alexander I. Poltorak and Paul J. Lerner, guides business managers, inventors, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs through the intricacies of intellectual property (IP) licensing and the development of the best strategies to protect their interests. It provides basic information about the anatomy of an IP license, the royalty rate and how to determine it, and the art of negotiating a licensing deal.

Licensing has problems and pitfalls for the uninitiated, as well as advantages for those in the know, as the authors illustrate in an example involving Warner-Lambert (W L). The trade secret formula for Listerine antiseptic became publicly known. W-L ceased paying royalties for the trade secret, and the licensors sued for breach of contract. Because of contract wording, the court ruled that the contract required W-L to continue paying royalties for the no-longer-secret formula.

Essentials of Licensing Intellectual Property provides guidance on how to avoid similar pitfalls. It explains the essential differences between various kinds of licenses covering patents, know-how, trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights. It discusses how to manage licenses, including policing and enforcement; how to tell if you are better off with a paid up or running royalty license; and how to increase the value of a patent license. Essentials of Licensing Intellectual Property also explains the basics of contract law and the differences between joint ventures and strategic alliances.

"Intellectual property is 75% of a typical company's value today," sums up Dr. Poltorak. "Readers of this book will learn how important it is to protect these assets and how to make licensing an integral part of a complete strategy to do so."
Poltorak and Lerner's earlier book, Essentials of Intellectual Property, published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc. ©2002, is a companion volume. Together, the two books provide a guide and overview on protecting patents and other intellectual property.

The co-authors are founder and chief executive officer, and senior vice president and general counsel, respectively, of General Patent Corporation (GPC), Suffern, N.Y., an intellectual property management company. An affiliate, General Patent Corporation International (GPCI), also headquartered in Suffern, NY, is the oldest contingency intellectual property (IP) licensing and enforcement firm in the US. Essentials of Licensing Intellectual Property is available at leading bookstores offering business titles, or can be ordered through GPCI at www.patentclaim.com.