How do I become a licensee of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA/US Colleges, NASCAR?

This is always a question of who wants whom more. I've seen deals where the percentage was in single digits. The thing is, I've seen both deals where a LICENSEE ended up with a single digit percentage and deals where a LICENSOR ended up with a single digit percentage. It all comes down to your ability to convince the other side that you are bringing in so much to the table that the other side should get a smaller piece of the pie. Essentially, this depends on these factors: - whether you are well-known in the industry; - whether the other side is well-known in the industry; - the level of uniqueness of your product (if you've developed another minor variation of a product that already exists on the market, chances are the distributor will want a larger piece of the pie); - your level of desperation (it's one thing when you partner up with someone else who will commercialize your product simply because you can make more money by investing your time building new stuff; it's another thing when you have no realistic way to commercialize the product yourself, and if you don't find someone who can do it for you quickly, you'll starve...) MOST IMPORTANTLY, no matter what number you agree to, make sure you read the contract extremely carefully. Contracts can create rights and contracts can destroy rights. Contracts are more powerful than any rights vested in you by IP laws. So, the bottom line is: - Know EXACTLY what you are trying to get out of your contract; - Get your contract reviewed by an experienced lawyer, but make sure you tell the lawyer what it is you're trying to get out of the contract. Lawyers are not going to create "the right deal" for you. We're not going to tell you whether you should be getting 9% or 90% of the revenue. We're going to make sure that you understand whether the contract you are about to sign reflects what you think the terms of the contract are. You're welcome to schedule a call if you would like to discuss this in more detail. Cheers, Andrei

I'm not an expert on German law, so please take everything with a grain of salt. This is never an easy issue because there aren't many persuasive arguments on either side. What usually ends up happening is that the parties defer to a neutral jurisdiction, typically New York law/New York courts or English Law/London courts. The reason being that most major companies worldwide usually have some nexus to either New York or London, so it's something they can agree to. Your best argument for requesting US law is that you are a US company, and the fact that most German companies are still sometimes subject to US law. (Many online companies offer only US terms and conditions, so German companies just have to agree to it sometimes.) I would avoid at all costs agreeing to German law or jurisdiction. Civil law (Europe) is very different than common law (England, US, Canada, Australia etc.) both in terms of the law and procedures. If they won't agree to New York, then push England. If that fails, then delete the governing law provision altogether and you can fight it out if and when a situation in which matters arises. To answer your second question, if you agree to German law and a judgment is rendered against you: (1) having a German judgment against you if you don't have any assets in Germany is a bit useless, as there is nothing to seize if you refuse to pay. They can seek to have the judgment recognized in US courts. This is an expensive process and most companies won't go through the effort because effectively they have to relitigate the matter in the US to get the enforcement order. However, they can do so if they are so inclined. (2) If a judgment is rendered against your company, then my presumption is that as a director or officer, you can encounter issues in Germany if you ever try to enter. This is where I'm least knowledgeable but I'd guess that if a judgement of a court is ignored, then eventually the directors and officers can be subject to criminal proceedings for contempt. If that happens, you could be arrested in Germany if you ever try to enter. I'm just guessing at that last part, but you don't want to go down that road, even if I'm entirely wrong. Ronan

Licensing a platform is a terrific way to generate revenue. We struggled to gain an audience to our site and didn't have the funds to market as heavily as we would have wanted. In came the offers to license. Margins were tighter, but the exposure to new customers made a world of difference.

So this is a great question and requires a relatively complex answer. And this is NOT legal advice. The first answer is that No, in most cases do not patent the invention yet. Often a provisional patent will do just fine, much cheaper and faster to market. Most inventor patents out of the gate are a waste of time/money. Additionally, one license negotiation piece is that if you have the Prov Patent Application, (PPA) then you can have the licensee pay for the cost of YOUR patent. I recently interviewed licensing expert Stephen Key, NYT Bestselling author of One Simple Idea about this topic. You can listen if you'd like for free here: http://baconwrappedbusiness.com/stephen-key/ Hope this is helpful

This is a tough one. When I started my prepared meal delivery service in Toronto, there was no way to make it legit working from home. I also was a vendor at a farmers' market and the only prepared products that were able to legit be made in a home kitchen were products made on a farm. Otherwise, everything needed to be made in a commercial kitchen. Most small food businesses start out of a home kitchen until a time when they can kitchen-share with a restaurant or it becomes worthwhile to rent commercial kitchen space at a commissary. My gut says that there likely isn't a way to make it legit, but it could depend on what city you live in. If you were doing in-home/private chef services, this is a different story, as the food is being made onsite. This type of service requires a standard business license and food handling certifications. A permit would be required if you had a food cart or truck, as well. I'd be happy to answer any other questions relating to this with a complimentary call. Contact me if you're interested. Jacinthe