1. Authority - Who has the authority to give approval or amend the agreement? And how and under what circumstances. If this is not clear from the beginning, you could encounter some very unpleasant situations down the road.   
2. Clear Drafting- A licensing agreement should be a clear and concise written contract outlining EXACTLY what the parameters of the agreement are. The language used is of utmost importance and phrases that are vague or open to interpretation should be avoided at all cost.  
3. Understand What You Are Signing -  Resist the temptation to sign the licensor's standard form document without review.  This is a common mistake often due to a desire not to incur legal fees or not to be seen as a nuisance by the licensor.

A brief review by an experienced lawyer will be far cheaper and quicker than litigation, the costs of which could easily ruin any small business.  

If you manufacture products for kids and young adults,  you should consider licensing a cartoon character to use on your products.  Among the benefits of licensing a character is the potential for much higher sales. A suitable-looking character used on the right merchandise will often boost the aesthetics of the product and its customer appeal.  

• 1893 -  Whitcomb Judson received a patent for the zipper.
• 1900 - "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum was copyright registered.
• 1906-  The Flexible Flyer was trademark registered.
  
  
  Source:About.com

Ask Rand Brenner 

Q: Where are some of the best places to source intellectual property that may be under exploited or under the radar?

A: Licensing is all about trends, and I always recommend starting with a search on the internet. The internet is a great tool for finding information about all sorts of trends in consumer products, services, emerging technologies, and new entertainment just to name a few.  

For example, there are two trending websites that I use - TrendHunter.com and SpringWise.com - that are a great resource for learning about new trends around the world. You can also use Google Trends to find out about the most popular words or subjects that are being searched on a weekly or monthly basis.  

Keep in mind it's not about finding the big home run. There are a lot of great niche licensing opportunities, such as emerging brands, online games or new social media sites, that are unknown or up and coming. Often times these are unexploited opportunities that could be licensed for little or no money. And remember, in a dynamic marketplace you never know when one of these unknowns will suddenly catch fire.  

Got a question about licensing? Send an email to askrandbrenner@ licensing4profits.com.  You'll get an answer to your question which will be included in a future issue of this newsletter.