Know-how

Know-how means a package of practical information, resulting from experience and testing, which is (i) secret, that is to say, not generally known or easily accessible, (ii) substantial, that is to say, significant and useful for the production of the contract products, and (iii) identified, that is to say, described in a sufficiently comprehensive manner so as to make it possible to teach it to a third party.

Know-how is fragile asset since unlike a trademark or a patent, it is not protected by any industrial property title.

It is also hard to assess the worth of the know-how. From our audit experience, know-how is often used in mixed licence agreements with patent applications in order to palliate the weakness of such patent applications and to demand royalties which are not always economically justified.

We can bring you our assistance in the evaluation of the consistency of the know-how, the negotiation and drafting of agreements with regard to the transfer, assignment, development or evaluation of know-how, with or without link with a patent licence agreement or a patent assignment agreement.