Like any skill or profession, success in licensing is built upon certain fundamentals. Get them right, and your licensing activities will be successful. But if you overlook them, you wind up frustrated, trying to figure out why you're getting nowhere with your licensing program.
While the licensing process has many parts, today, I will focus on three of the most important and often forgotten fundamentals needed to succeed in licensing.
1. Understanding What Your IP Is
The first fundamental is understanding what your intellectual property (IP) constitutes. Most people generally think of IP as patents, trademarks, and copyrights. However, IP can encompass much more than a product, brand, book, or software. IP extends into many formats, including customer information, software source code, business models, databases, operations manuals, professional expertise, and more. For example, patent rights may include products and processes that make the product.
If you're unsure, the best thing to do is create an inventory list of your IP. Then, you can figure out the parts of your IP to include in your licensing deal. Nothing is more frustrating for a licensing partner if you fail to give them all the IP rights they need in the licensing deal.
2. Protecting Your IP the Right Way
Your intellectual property is valuable, and failing to protect it risks your IP. Your idea becomes intellectual property when you protect its legal rights. Almost anything can be licensed as long as it contains protectable IP rights. The key is knowing which rights to protect. This goes back to fundamental number 1—if you don't know what your IP is and which parts are the most licensable, you'll wind up overspending on protecting the wrong parts of your IP.
For example, I consulted with a lady who created a patent for a learning assessment toy. It collected data about kids' learning skills by testing them with interactive toys. Not realizing the actual value of her IP was the data collection, she spent all her money on patenting the interactive toy parts, completely missing the most licensable aspect of the IP.
3. Determining If Your IP Is Licensable
Because you've developed an IP doesn't mean it can be licensed. Your IP is licensable if it solves a specific problem, fills a big need, or creates a new marketplace. A big part of what makes your IP licensable is what it offers in terms of competitive advantage. The more significant the competitive advantage, the more licensable it is.
Remember, a potential licensing partner's key question is whether they can make money with your IP. Your IP's real value is how a licensing partner can use it to increase revenues, reduce costs, secure financing, or gain a competitive advantage. Your IP has to prove it makes money—whether it's better, faster, cheaper, solves a big problem, or does something no one else does. Licensing partners don't license IP—they license money. The more you can show a licensing partner why your IP is valuable to them, the more interested they will be in licensing it.
If your IP is in a highly competitive market, such as apparel, software, or consumer electronics, and if it costs less to make (or deliver) and sells for more, your IP is precious and licensable.
Fundamentals are Everything
Success in licensing requires remembering the fundamentals. Most IP owners fail to make money with their IP because they forget these licensing fundamentals. It starts with a good foundation that includes identifying all your IP parts, ensuring they are protected correctly, and making your IP licensable so it's attractive to a licensing partner.
But like any skill, it's essential to learn the fundamentals correctly. I encourage you to sign up for our free Licensing4Profits newsletter. You'll receive our latest blog articles with specific how-to “actionable” information on every aspect of licensing—from developing your idea into an IP to finding licensing partners and valuable resources—sent to you each week. You'll also receive our exclusive “subscriber only” articles and offers for free e-courses, webinars, videos, seminars, and our latest licensing training programs.
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About the Author
Rand Brenner is a licensing strategist, dealmaker, and founder of the IP Licensing Coach Academy. For more than 30 years, he has helped founders, startups, and operating companies turn intellectual property into scalable revenue through structured licensing campaigns, strategic partnerships, and commercialization agreements.
His work spans consumer products, medical devices, software, entertainment, and emerging technologies, with licensing programs that have generated millions in product sales and royalty income. Throughout his career, he has worked with both large brands and small innovators, showing how the right licensing strategy can open markets faster than building alone.
Rand is the founder of the IP Licensing Coach Academy, a platform that helps IP owners build deal-ready licensing campaigns step-by-step, without relying on guesswork, endless outreach, or one-off deals. His approach focuses on practical execution, real-world strategy, and turning intellectual property into long-term business assets.
