Med tech startups make many mistakes, especially when their primary focus is on their growth and survival, and resources (especially money) are scarce. They are either unaware of their go-to-market options or only focus on a single make-and-sell option.
The problem is there isn’t a single go-to-market strategy that guarantees success. And figuring out the right one is never clear-cut. The result is you wind up losing out on other opportunities costing you a lot of time and money.
One area that often gets overlooked is managing, protecting, and using your IP, which leads to big issues such as a lack of IP protection, missed income opportunities, potential infringement, and other issues that undermine your IP and its money-making options.
If you fail to take care of the IP inside your product and/or service, the time, effort, and sweat equity you invested in getting that product and/or service to market can slow down or even come to a grinding halt.
Your med-tech start-up is an exciting and fast-moving entity. Successfully bringing your new med-tech device or technology to market requires persistence and patience. Yet too often, you rush ahead with tunnel vision, losing sight of the best options to get your technology into the market. You end up making the same mistakes as others before you.
Even if your med tech is unique, learning where others went wrong and avoiding the big IP mistakes is one of the best ways to help your med tech startup survive. But it requires learning the right steps and when to take them.
Time and again, I meet IP owners who make the same mistakes as others before them. But it doesn’t have to be that way. All you need is the right experts to teach you how to license your med tech IP correctly and successfully.
Licensing is a process. It requires doing certain activities and tasks to protect, manage and turn your intellectual property into money-making licensing deals. But trying to take shortcuts in the process leads to making big mistakes that cost you time, money, and in some cases, a lot of legal headaches.
If you’re new to the licensing game or actively trying to find a licensing partner, there are ways to avoid some of the biggest mistakes. One of those is learning what they are. If you’re aware, you can take action to avoid or fix them.
There are no shortcuts when it comes to successfully licensing your med tech IP. Do it right, and you can make a fortune. Do it wrong; it will cost you a fortune in lost income opportunities or expensive legal action.
Click here to view the Do’s and Don’ts of the Med Tech Licensing workshop.
Rand Brenner is an IP professional whose passion is helping inventors, startups, and businesses of all sizes use licensing to turn their IP into income-producing products, services, and technologies. His decades of experience run the gamut from medical devices to food technology to consumer products. He’s licensed some of the biggest Hollywood entertainment blockbusters including the Batman Movies (1 and 2), and the number one kid’s action TV show, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Rand speaks about licensing and is a featured speaker at investment conferences, trade shows, colleges, and startup events. His first book, Hidden Wealth: The Money Making Power of Licensing was released in 2019 and is available on Amazon.com. He’s also a published writer with articles appearing in several prestigious trade magazine including The Licensing Journal, Intellectual Property Magazine, and License India. Rand also mentors at the Cal State Fullerton School of Business and Economics and is a judge for their startup business plan competitions.