Licensing patents

[patentnewb]

What is the name of your state? GA

Hi, during licensing negotiations, do I normally have to tell the patent owner what my product is, why I need his/her patent, the nature of my business, etc? I'm afraid that if I disclose a good business or product idea to the owner in order to get a license, the patent owner may just go ahead and do that business him/herself. Thanks.

 

[divgradcurl]

There really aren't any "general rules" to licensing negotiations -- it all depends on the parties involved. The patent owner is typically going to want to know something about your potential business, in order to calculate what he or she thinks is a fair license. You can try and get the patent owner to sign an NDA before negotiations, but chances are you are going to have to talk without such protections.

 

[patentnewb]

So is it expected that, if the owner thinks my business idea is really good, he/she will charge more for the license?