What users usually need to know before a royalty search.
Concise answers on search, comparability, agreement review, analytics and data quality.
Search with the facts in mind.
These answers explain how TPRoyalty is intended to support professional royalty research.
Does a royalty benchmark prove that the payment was needed or beneficial?+
Not by itself. Benchmarking supports the price. A robust file may also need to explain what rights or value the licensee receives and why the payment makes commercial sense.
Can a royalty be aggregated under TNMM instead of tested separately?+
That depends on the facts and applicable rules. Even where aggregation is supportable, reviewers may still ask for transaction-level evidence or comparable uncontrolled licence agreements.
Why do DEMPE and local R&D matter?+
They help explain which entities actually contribute to intangible value. Material local development or enhancement activity can affect the functional and pricing analysis.
Does a loss-making year mean the royalty should be zero?+
No automatic rule follows from a loss. Profitability is one fact to analyse together with the licence rights, market conditions, contract and uncontrolled evidence.
Why can high local marketing spend matter for brand royalty?+
Significant local marketing may raise questions about who is building brand value, who controls the activity and whether the royalty remains consistent with the wider functional analysis.
What is TPRoyalty?+
TPRoyalty is a royalty and licence-agreement research platform for searching, screening and reviewing third-party agreement evidence. It is designed for transfer pricing, valuation, licensing and dispute work.
Does TPRoyalty determine an arm's-length royalty automatically?+
No. It supports the analysis. The user remains responsible for the controlled-transaction facts, comparable selection, any adjustments and the final conclusion.
What can I search?+
You can search agreement text, keywords and phrases, parties, industries, territories, agreement types, classifications, dates, payment bases, disclosed values and TPAR identifiers.
Can I search the full agreement text?+
Yes, where agreement text is available in the database. The search workspace includes text-oriented search modes as well as structured filters.
Can I search by SIC, NACE or NAICS?+
Yes. Classification codes can be used alongside industry and keyword criteria to build a more transparent search strategy.
Can I search by licensor or licensee?+
Yes. Party search is available for licensor, licensee and filing-company names.
What is a TPAR ID?+
TPAR is the permanent TPRoyalty agreement identifier used for the consolidated agreement record.
Which identifier do subscribers use?+
Subscribers use the permanent TPAR identifier throughout search, screening, review and final comparable sets.
Does database inclusion mean an agreement is comparable?+
No. Inclusion only means the agreement is available for review. The reviewer must assess the relevant rights, products, market, territory, term, parties and economic terms.
How are multiple royalty terms handled?+
Economic-term rows remain linked to the agreement. The reviewer selects the relevant row and records the normalized percentage used in the working set.
Can older agreements be used?+
Potentially. Age should be evaluated with the other comparability factors rather than used as an automatic acceptance or rejection rule.
Does exclusivity always increase the royalty rate?+
No. Exclusivity is one contractual factor and its economic effect depends on scope, territory, duration, restrictions and the wider deal.
Why does the royalty base matter?+
A percentage of gross sales can have different economics from the same percentage of net sales or another base. The base and any deductions should be reviewed before comparing rates.
Can I save my search and review decisions?+
Yes. Searches can be saved as working sets. Accept, reject and review decisions, notes and selected normalized rates remain attached to that workset.
What statistics are available?+
The working set calculates count, minimum, first quartile, median, third quartile, maximum and mean from accepted agreements with confirmed normalized rates.
Can I export results?+
Yes, subject to the applicable access plan and export limits. The local review build currently supports export of accepted records.
Can I use TPRoyalty for valuation or licensing work?+
Yes. Agreement evidence can also inform IP valuation, licensing negotiations and dispute analysis, subject to the methodology appropriate to that work.
Is source traceability preserved?+
Yes. Underlying source traceability is retained internally while imported facts remain separate from reviewer work-product.