Contingency Patent Licensing and Enforcement

When an inventor receives a patent for his or her invention, that is often just the beginning of the story. As General Patent Corporation (GPC) points out to its clients, there are no Patent Police. What does a patent owner do when his or her patent (if the patent is owned by an individual), or its patent (if the patent is owned by a business or university), is infringed? They contact GPC, and if the company decides to champion their cause, it goes after the infringer(s).

General Patent Corporation originated the concept of contingency patent enforcement back in 1987, making the company the oldest patent licensing and enforcement company in the US, as well as the leading company in their niche, since they’ve represented more clients and secured more settlements than any other patent enforcement firm.

GPC does both “carrot” licensing (approaching a company on friendly terms and convincing them to license their client’s patent) and “stick” licensing (filing a patent infringement lawsuit – or threatening to file patent litigation – and essentially forcing the infringer to license their client’s patent).

The key to General Patent’s business model is contingency representation. GPC charges the patent owner nothing on the front end. General Patent engages a law firm to try the patent infringement litigation, and the company covers all litigation expenses. Legal fees and expenses for a patent infringement lawsuit can easily run into the millions of dollars! Talk about putting your money where your mouth is. General Patent only gets paid if and when it produces results for its client – it wins the lawsuit at trial or it negotiates a settlement with the infringer(s). General Patent is paid, per an agreed-to formula, a portion of all awards, settlements, licensing fees and royalties it secures for its client.

Needless to say, GPC cannot represent every patent owner whose patent has been infringed. The company must analyze each claim of patent infringement that is brought to it to determine if the claim is viable. It must pick its fights. Is it worth investing considerable time and money to enforce the patent? But when General Patent accepts the challenge and agrees to assist a patent owner, they produce results! For one client, Acticon Technologies, GPC secured over 150 licenses! For another client, Digital Technology Licensing, the company negotiated over 30 licenses.

And General Patent is fearless! The company has prevailed in patent infringement claims against US giants such as IBM, Motorola, Coca Cola, Pepsi, AT&T, Kraft, Ford and General Motors. GPC has also taken on foreign manufacturers such as Honda, Samsung, LG, Sony, Ericsson and Casio. General Patent was founded by Alexander Poltorak in 1987.

In the patent world there is a derogatory term, “patent troll,” for a patent owner that does not practice (use the patented invention to produce a product or service) its patent. General Patent took the issue of patent trolls head on – just as it takes the enforcement of its clients’ patents head on – by producing a video, “The Ballad of the Patent Troll,” that can be seen at the GPC website.

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