Royalty Audit and
Contract Compliance Group
Your intellectual property is valuable and deserves to be monetized and protected.
CONTACT OUR EXPERTS
“Trust but Verify” - Ronald Reagan
Our Approach
As a consulting practice specializing in Copyright, Patent, and Trademark royalty audits, our approach is holistic. We understand the importance of the relationship with your licensees, partners, or vendors and thus we conduct our audits professionally and collaboratively.
Additionally, understanding the value and importance of your intellectual properties and royalty streams, we conduct our services efficiently and effectively. Not only do we identify, quantify and recover underreported royalties (or overcharged amounts), our procedures are designed to protect your IP and to provide you with essential information on the activities of your licensees, partners, or vendors.
Furthermore, our process includes communicating your understanding of how the underlying agreement or regulation is supposed to operate and how you expect your licensee, partner, or vendor to properly report to you pursuant to such agreement or regulation. This communication enhances relationships and future compliance resulting in increased royalties (or decreased costs), prospectively.
Seasoned Forensic Auditors
Our Experience
Our team is comprised of seasoned forensic auditors with global experience. We have conducted various types of royalty and contract compliance audits in many industries and territories while consistently delivering results. In addition to conducting royalty and contract compliance audits, Adeptus Royalty Audit and Contract Compliance Group’s experience includes providing the various consulting and royalty accounting services as noted herein.
We have assisted intellectual property buyers, sellers and lenders consummate transactions by conducting financial due diligence reviews. We have valued IP for buy/sell, estate tax and financial statement reporting purposes. As testifying experts, we have assisted counsel with strategy, damage calculations and rebuttals. Lastly, we have provided various consulting and royalty accounting services to enhance the financial and audit provisions of our clients’ license agreements, assist with royalty statement preparation, and help licensors establish a proactive royalty compliance program.
From monetary recoveries to IP protection to business intelligence and more, we add value that our clients utilize and appreciate. The Adeptus Royalty Audit and Contract Compliance Group’s services will add profits to your bottom line and provide the comfort that your intellectual properties are being actively monitored and protected.
The Reasons Behind
Reporting Errors
Ronald Reagan once said, “Trust, but verify.” This mantra remains relevant to today’s complex contractual relationships. A royalty/contract compliance audit is the only tool you possess to determine if you are being paid (or charged) correctly. Numerous factors can cause reporting errors, whether intended or accidental, including:
Contractual Complexity
As the complexity of contracts and number of requirements increases, the ability to adhere to them decreases. Complex royalty and license agreements with unique terms increase the likelihood that reporting errors will occur. Having to account to multiple licensors amplifies the likelihood for reporting errors even further.
Common Errors
Some common errors are caused by improper contractual interpretations, poor accounting systems and controls, inadequate staff and resources, personnel turnover, common accounting mistakes, rapid growth or acquisitions, or having to report royalties to numerous licensors all with different contractual terms.
Systems Updates
Often, royalty systems are not updated to properly account for contractual amendments, and sometimes systems are not sophisticated enough to deal with a variety of complex contractual terms.
Other Errors
Reporting errors can also result from aggressive accounting policies, data manipulation, financial pressures, or failure/inability to adhere to the terms of your agreement. Most reporting errors result in underpayments or overcharges.
Identify and Quantify
The Benefits
An Adeptus compliance audit will identify and quantify the effect of reporting errors and will help you recover your money. Furthermore, an Adeptus compliance audit can protect and enhance the value of your intellectual property. We search for improper and unauthorized exploitation by licensees, which can have a detrimental impact on the value and integrity of your IP. We detect unexploited and underexploited rights enabling our clients to increase royalty revenue by capitalizing on untapped opportunities, which increases IP value. We identify monetary and non-monetary issues that affect your IP and as a result, change licensee behavior going forward for your benefit.
You are entitled to be paid (or charged) properly and your intellectual properties should be exploited in accordance with the governing agreement, license, statute, or regulation. Let Adeptus Partners’ Royalty Audit and Contract Compliance Group provide you with the assurance that you have been paid correctly (or not), that your IP has been exploited appropriately (or not), and also let us deliver a variety of monetary and non-monetary benefits to you and your organization.
Monetary Benefits
- Recover unpaid or underpaid amounts
- Recover overcharged amounts
- Increase royalties, prospectively
- Decrease fees and charges, prospectively
- Increase the value of your intellectual properties
- Augment your revenue and profits
- Obtain audit fee reimbursements
- Collect interest and penalties
Non-Monetary Benefits
- Protect Intellectual Properties
- Obtain business intelligence
- Communicate how the agreement should
be interpreted and accounted for - Resolve contractual disputes
- Change licensee/partner/vendor behavior
- Improve contractual language
- Gain leverage for subsequent negotiations
- Notify the marketplace, and your other licensees, that you are actively protecting your IP by conducting compliance audits
- Provide comfort in knowing that your partner, licensee, vendor, etc. is reporting to you in accordance with the terms of the underlying agreement or regulation.
Royalty Audit & Contract Compliance
Industries & Services
Services Provided
- Royalty, Profit Participation, Joint Venture and Contract Compliance Audits
- Financial Due Diligence Reviews (IP Acquisitions, Securitizations, and Lending)
- Intellectual Property Valuations
- Litigation Consulting and Expert Witness Testimony
- Most Favored Nations (MFN) Audits
- Franchisee Audits
- Royalty Administration and Royalty Statement Preparation
- Royalty Audit Defense
- Contract Review and Consultation
- Reporting Processes Review and Consultation
Key Industries Served
- Entertainment (Music, Film, TV, Broadway, and New Media)
- Technology, Data, and Software
- Life Sciences and Medical Devices
- Consumer Product Licensing
- Professional Sports
- Toys, Games, and Video Games
- Fashion (Apparel, Accessories, and Footwear)
- Food, Beverage, and Restaurants
- Automotive
- Print and Digital Media
- Advertising
- Academia and Research
- Real Estate
Work With Us
The Adeptus Difference
Adeptus’ Royalty Audit and Contract Compliance Group specializes in conducting royalty and contract compliance audits. Our professional staff is fully dedicated to providing compliance auditing services and possesses years of experience doing so in a variety of industries and in multiple territories. We customize our services and procedures for each client and their particular needs to deliver results and additional value.
We have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients while also providing them with a number of non-monetary benefits. We are responsive, detailed, thorough, competent, efficient, and effective. Our understanding of licensing, intellectual properties, the business environment, the marketplace, and business relationships, enables us to provide our clients with excellent service that adds value to their bottom line.
