Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Re: Licensing a Product...

That depends on the nature of the product and on the existence of any patent or trademark protecting the product.

If the product falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), they often require extensive testing for secondary uses, and it doesn't matter whether a current patent exists for the product.

If the product is currently protected under someone else's patent, you may (and I repeat MAY) have to license the product if you want to modify it for your particular use. Your use, though, is your use, and you may be entitled to patent protection for that use. Your patent attorney will need full details about the product, its current use, and your proposed use to determine whether a patent on your use is appropriate.

If the product is currently protected by trademark, you will almost certainly have to license the mark to brand the product with your use. That should be a co-branding campaign with the current owner of the mark.

If the product is not protected, brand away.

Word to the wise: spend your money on a legitimate patent attorney or agent. Don't go to one of the late-night-TV invention promotion companies. See the US Patent & Trademark Office's website for information about invention promotion companies.

While you're at the USPTO's website, you might spend some time poking around; that site is a goldmine of good information.

Good luck.

THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED, AS LEGAL ADVICE. FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.