Ever wondered what a Chief Licensing Officer actually does?

Eric R., Chief Licensing Officer at Avanci, shared what the role really involves, from setting strategy and shaping agreements to balancing the interests of licensors, licensees and the platform itself.

It’s a role that blends legal, business, and relationship-building skills, no two days look the same.

What does your role as Chief Licensing Officer for Avanci entail?

I get to be involved in nearly every facet of our business, especially on the front end of the lifecycle: preparing, negotiating, and executing platform and license agreements, and shaping the strategy behind them. I’m rarely working alone; I work closely with colleagues from our business and market units and operations group throughout these efforts.

While I’m less involved in post-execution operations, I do step in when issues arise, particularly those tied to how the collection, allocation, and distribution of royalties is intended to function.

What I enjoy most is the variety of the role: from helping launch new platforms or licensing programs to supporting individual deals. Sometimes it’s about hands-on execution, and other times it’s about strategic discussions, such as figuring out how to kickstart a new multi-party licensing program. There’s often a chicken-and-egg challenge: you need licensors to attract licensees, and licensees to attract licensors. Deciding where to begin is key.

When launching a platform, how do you solve the classic chicken-and-egg problem: do you start with licensors or licensees?

Over the years, we’ve learned there’s no single formula for launching licensing programs. It often starts with strategic discussions on how to get things moving effectively.  Sometimes the initial interest comes more from potential licensees, sometimes more from potential licensors, and sometimes it’s a mix of the two.

I’m not afraid to roll up my sleeves and do the first draft of the agreements for a new licensing platform; in fact I really enjoy it. We’ve improved these agreements in many ways over time, learning from past experience and incorporating feedback from both licensors and licensees.  These are complex agreements but my goal is to make them as straightforward and user-friendly as possible.

Once we have a new licensing program in place, our business and market teams take over the day-to-day negotiations of individual license agreements. At that point, my role shifts to providing guidance and helping solve any unique issues that arise.

Is your role more to be an advocate for the interests of licensors, licensees, or a balance of the two?

Avanci’s role is to find sets of licensing terms that can work for both a broad set of licensors and a broad set of licensees, and my role is to help my colleagues do just that.  It requires balancing the interests of licensors and licensees and also thinking about what’s best for the platform itself. There is such a wide range of opinions and views from all the companies around the world we work with; no one will ever be completely happy with everything in our agreements, but when you can get dozens of companies to sign on as licensors and also dozens to sign on as licensees, I think it’s fair to say that we’ve struck a good balance.

Our platforms are built on principles that are embedded in our master agreements.  Our agreements are also designed to give us some flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances; there is no way to anticipate everything that will come up over the course of a licensing program.  So we do our best to operate in a way that is both principled and pragmatic.

Compared to how bilateral licensing is typically done, our platform licenses are a big improvement in terms of being simple, efficient, and transparent. We work hard to ensure that there is a level playing field for licensees. That way, everyone can trust what they see and know that there’s fairness built into the system.

It’s equally important that our licensors trust us to act within the authority they’ve given us and to do so responsibly. Much of the advice I give focuses on how to solve problems in a way that stays true to those principles while still meeting the practical needs of a particular company or situation.

That’s not always easy. We aim to say yes whenever possible, but sometimes, staying principled means saying no, and doing so thoughtfully.

What in your background, in your career to date, has prepared you for this sort of role?

I spent the first 20 years of my career in private practice as a transactional lawyer, helping clients close all kinds of deals, from mergers and acquisitions to software licenses, internet deals in the dot-com heyday, and yes, patent licenses. Then, during my four years at Qualcomm as general manager of the licensing business, my focus was on securing agreements and maintaining relationships with our many licensees and business partners. That was easier said than done at times, given the circumstances, but that was the objective.

So I had been doing deals for about a quarter of a century before I joined Avanci.  Through all that experience, I learned that getting a deal done isn’t just about saying yes and it’s also not about winning every point in a negotiation. It’s about understanding the real business objectives underlying the deal and finding a way for both parties to feel that they are getting good value from the deal without leaving themselves exposed to excessive risk. Over time, you develop judgment, learn what kinds of provisions tend to raise issues and what kinds of provisions tend to resolve them, and figure out how to navigate recurring challenges effectively.

Anyone can close a deal by giving the other side everything they want, or by using overwhelming leverage if they have it. But that’s not sustainable. The real skill lies in reaching fair, workable agreements, especially in complex, multi-party environments like the ones we often handle at Avanci.

What advice would you give to someone aspiring to become a Chief Licensing Officer?

It’s a unique role that tends to exist only in companies where licensing is a major part of the business. It’s not a universally defined position; it often depends on what the individual makes of it. By nature, it’s a senior leadership role, so being part of an executive team where there’s a high degree of mutual respect and strong collaboration is crucial. A leadership team that works well together is key to a company’s success.

For me, that’s been one of the best parts of my experience at Avanci. I didn’t start as Chief Licensing Officer. I was initially head of strategy for several years before moving into the CLO role.  But throughout all of my nine-plus years at Avanci, I’ve had the good fortune to work with the most experienced and talented group of executives in our field that have ever come together under one roof, so to speak.  We’ve accomplished a lot together, and I think our best years are still ahead. See content credentials