If you have a patent

Important * Important * Important * Important * Important * Important * Important *

Your patent application is a valuable secret and, before it is published, you are entitled to be paid for site of its contents
Be aware that some of THE BIG BOYS will TRY to insist that you show them your patent application, THEY ARE NOT ENTITLED to see it for free and may only want to study it to find a way around it anyway.
Your job (when you go to the big boys for whatever reason) is to convince them that your invention will not make them lose money but will make them money and is the only way to fulfill the market need you have identified.
Your intellectual property is identifying the need/marketplace as well as your patented means of doing it.
Your patent is ONLY the means and PROBABLY is NOT the only means to do the job.
THEY could be capable of making something to do the same job. It may cost more to make or be somewhat inferior in some other way but the only thing they would want to be certain of is that it would not infringe your patent. IF they don’t know your patent wording, it’s more difficult for them to create their own derivative.
At this stage you could negotiate a non-returnable fee as well as a confidentiality agreement that should state something like :-
“In the event that a licensing agreement is not entered into THEY undertake NOT to manufacture or sell or be party to any product based on or similar to your patent”
Take legal advice on the words because it depends on your invention, but the object is to have ammunition to stop them stealing your intellectual property.
Also minimum royalties are a must.

 

A lot more good advice at www.InveningToday.co.uk