The exploitation of technologies, know-how and intellectual property rights allows companies to give away their own, idle technologies/unused intellectual property rights to interested third parties. Thus costs can be saved (e.g. maintenance fees) and existing values be exploited efficiently.

In Asia, the USA and Europe different business models and service providers are now in place to actively exploit and transact IP. At WURZER & KOLLEGEN we collaborate on a global scale with established and successful providers.

In general a distinction is made between different types of exploitation regarding the realization of business processes. There is, on the one hand, the “friendly” exploitation (“carrot licensing / business licensing “), on the other hand such exploitation which is based on the enforcement of intellectual property rights infringements (“stick licensing / enforcement licensing“).

Investors are looking for intellectual property rights portfolios, technologies and know-how which are interesting to them (e.g. renewable energies). In most cases, this depends on the branch and the region and concerns ready-for-production technologies or close-to-production products.

Platforms are markets on which intellectual property rights are traded. Potential buyers have the opportunity of examining property rights, e.g. during an auction, and to acquire them. Platforms are not suited for technologies and know-how.

Technology traders are interested in different product and/or process technologies. As highly specific industrial knowledge on regional industries is required for this kind of transaction, these service providers limit their activities to technological niches. The existence of intellectual property rights as part of the traded transaction object is not absolutely essential for a successful transaction. 

Funds are special assets managed by an investment company and they invest money in IP and its exploitation. Funds or their service providers act as buyers of intellectual property rights or exploitation rights as well as investors in terms of the economic implementation of technologies which are based on intellectual property rights.

Non-Practicing Entity (NPE) or "patent troll / patent shark" is a term for persons or firms that acquire patents with no intention of using this protected technical invention in practice. It is the objective of NPEs to exploit the patent as the right to exclude, without making their own technical contribution. To do so, they use the patent law in order to cash in on patent infringements, if any, which have not been prosecuted so far.
Depending on technology, expertise and industrial property rights or own resources and comprehensive strategic considerations, a successful exploitation is, to a large extent, conditioned by the selection of a suitable exploitation partner.

At WURZER & KOLLEGEN we analyze and structure exploitable technologies, expertise and intellectual property rights, determine appropriate exploitation channels and prepare, according to various exploitation criteria, the company portfolio for exploitation.

Thus our clients benefit from WURZER & KOLLEGEN aligning important exploitation criteria (asset class (patent, technology etc.) or asset properties) with corresponding business models of the exploiters and identify possible decision criteria on the basis of success factors. 

After checking the decision criteria, at WURZER & KOLLEGEN we align these success factors with potential exploiters from the in-house network and, if wished, establish contact with them.