Month: September 2015

Pick the Right Lawyer for a Royalty Contract

Lee Drucker

Role play with me for a moment. Imagine you’re going in for surgery and you can choose between two surgeons: a doctor who performs that surgery twice a year, or one that does it twice a month?

It’s a no brainer. The same should apply to lawyers – particularly when it comes to the mission-critical task of negotiating royalty contracts. These key agreements will make or break a company. Plus, if things go bad between your company and other parties, these documents will be what separates losing millions (and sometimes more) and remaining intact.

Here are some ways to vet your attorneys to see which ones know enough about royalty agreements.

Doing business with the DoD (then and now)

Lee Drucker

Small businesses face particular challenges when endeavoring to protect their patent rights and rights to technical data. The committee report noted instances where the DoD gave another contractor access to intellectual property so they could “reverse engineer”and manufacture a patented invention. If a contractor feels his or her invention has been used unlawfully, the contractor’s only recourse, according to the report, is to sue through U.S. Federal Court –an inordinately expensive and time-consuming process.

Panel Discussion on Protecting Your Company

Lee Drucker

I recently participated in a panel discussion at the Converge conference. It produced a discussion that I think can be useful for innovators in the life sciences space. MedCity News summarized the event here.

Protecting Yourself as a Small Business Contractor with the Department of Defense

Lee Drucker

Fred Lisy is president of Orbital Research Inc., which conducts research on and product development of medical devices and military weapons technology. Founded in 1991, this small company of 16 employees has been contracting with the Department of Defense for more than 20 years, mainly with the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force.

“You can’t be risk averse and work with DoD,” he says, which is one reason he maintains about 30 to 50 percent of company revenue in commercial as opposed to government ventures. That being said, he’s also quick to note the best way to protect one’s self as a small business is to keep learning and asking questions. The more you know, the safer you’ll be.

Contact Us

The best way for companies and their counsel to determine if litigation finance is an attractive option is to discuss it with us.

Lee Drucker drucker@lakewhillans.com