HACKER Q&A
📣 MrSpringDiver

How can I sell my patent


Hi HN

I'm working on a prototype and planning to register it as a patent to benefit from it It is a product of home appliance makes new idea of how it works It does the work of more than single product together, and it may be used as public machine to pay for use

I don't have suitable conditions to make corporation startup so I want to sell it for a fair price

It is not a smart product yet ~ it depends on buttons rather than screen and has no remote control as of now What do you think is better for marketing? Buttons or Screen?

Share your thoughts


  👤 wizzerking Accepted Answer ✓
As an Engineer with 6 patents I am a co-author on If you want to earn money from the patent I suggest licensing your patent. If a startup approaches you, make the terms easy in the beginning working toward a % of the gross as the company matures. Most companies do not have deep pockets to outright buy your patent for money that will change your life.

👤 engmgrmgr
Are you in the US? The patent process usually takes a long time (potentially many years) and potentially a lot of money.

Your details about not being able to form a company are suspicious — why not? It’s really cheap and fast.


👤 captainredbeard
While it is not impossible, I would not view this strategy as a reasonable one w.r.t. generating meaningful income.

Focus on building a real thing, that solves a real problem, and get real people to pay you real money.


👤 aurizon
Make sure any patent assignment has a pull-back mechanism in case the initial buyer goes broke and some other entity buys the patent from the bankruptcy trustee with zero to you, and often the royalties are stripped - not sure how they did it, but patent lawyers have ways to structure a deal so if you have a valid idea and it looks like a good potential earner, he should be able to compose a good enduring deal.

👤 Irongirl1
https://www.ideaconnection.com the newsletter has a marketplace section where people list their patents for sale.

👤 vestrigi
I heard it‘s not uncommon to approach companies that maybe could make use of the patent in the future or that are already potentially violating your patent. You approach them and suggest they license your patent to avoid a future lawsuit against you.

👤 obulpathi
Have you considered making your patent into an NFT? Let me know if you are interested.