What we offer We offer a service for patent applicants of searching for and negotiating with potential licensees. Any licence fee generated (net of expenses) is split 50:50 between the patent applicant and ourselves. Our fees are limited solely to what we receive from the profit share. In particular, we target the 12 months' window of opportunity between PCT publication date and the deadline for national filings. We try to locate potential licensees and tie up deals before fees for national filings in individual territories become due.

The benefits to the patent applicant

•  You save on fees for national filings. If in doubt, please consult your professional advisers about the likely costs of national filings. By way of example, these are estimates of the fees you are likely to incur to prosecute your patent in the following individual countries:-

To maintain the patent in all the countries covered by the European Patent Office is likely to cost you in the region of £30,000 in the first year. This takes no account of territories outside Europe .

•  You keep up your patent at no cost to yourself in territories you would otherwise abandon.

•  Your patent has exposure to a database of international companies seeking new technologies and products. Without this exposure, it is unlikely that these companies would even get to see your technology.

•  Exploit4U will carry out research on where your patent sits in relation to other patents with a view to identifying the major players (and therefore potential licensees) in your sector.

•  You will save on time and money by not having to search for licensees yourself.

•  You will have access to the IP skills of Exploit4U.


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What do you do now?

To start the ball rolling, please complete our IP questionnaire which will tell us more about your patent. The questionnaire can be downloaded by clicking here . There is no obligation either on your part or on our part in sending back a completed questionnaire.

After we have received your completed questionnaire, we will evaluate whether we are likely to be able to assist. This process takes about 2 weeks. If we think we cannot assist, we will write back to you to that effect. If we think we can assist we will ask you to commit legally to the service we offer. Assuming that the legal agreement is acceptable to you, we will then start the process of searching for licensees in earnest.

Time is of the essence. The longer we have to search for licensees, the more chance we have of finding them. Fees for national filings become due approximately 12 months after the PCT is published. If no licence is finalised before the due date for legal fees, our involvement will cease. The licence fee income is required in order to meet the fees due in relation to the national filings.

For more details on a typical timeline of events, please click here