Are There Any Great Books on Licensing?

Hello Mike! this is Andres from Miami! I'm developing products and believe licensing is the way to go. My idea is to present my projects to companies in a professional way, combining my knowledge on marketing and branding with licensing. ...I find many books from authors who seem to be "successful " in their deals, but these experts are more successful selling books than explaining... the only good material on the entire web is Inventing 102 (at Invention City). Now my question, what would be the best way to start a good study on licensing? Which would be the best books?

Thanks for the kind words. Inventing 102 was written from hard experience, experience helped along by great advisers. Doing a licensing deal requires:

1. Specific understanding of your licensee's business (what's the average profit margin on their products, who are their competitors, trends in their industry);
2. Prior art related to your invention and the strength of your intellectual property;
3. A grounding in marketing and sales.

Maybe others can make suggestions, but I don't know of any great books specific to licensing. Pressman's Patent it Yourself is fantastic for providing an understanding of the patent process but doesn't help with understanding the value of your IP relative to comepetitors. For marketing I suggest Oglivy's On Advertising (how to communicate effectively - "When I write an advertisement, I don't want you to tell me that you find it 'creative.' I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product." ) and for a great pep talk on sales, something by Zig Ziglar such as Zig Ziglar's Secrets of Closing the Sale (understanding how you bring value to your customer). Both are old books but remain as valid today as when they were written.

Good luck!
Mike

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