Can I buy 2nd hand Pro/E license?

[pro_eek]

My current employer has told me that they're planning on closing 2 divisions down end of the year. This is great news as I've been planning on starting my own business anyway! To encourage me to resign, they want to throw in the Pro/E license I currently use as a "gift" (so they dont have to pay me a retrenchment package) I told them that a license isn't transferable to a new owner. They say I can use the license forever and they'll continue to pay the maintenance.


I'm going toget 3rd party advice this week on how much a retrenchment package would be worth. I suspect much more than a Pro/E seat.


In a way I want to keep good relationships with them as the owner has promised me freehelpon tax advice etc etcshould I start my own venture.


Bottom line: Can I commercially use a license for my own business work, if that license belongs to another company? Do I give the other company a foothold on my work?


Any advice for me guys?

 

[c_thompson_68]

You can use that Pro-E license as long as your former employer is not using it at the same time. If your former employer pays maintainence, you can get technical support and upgrades. However, unless this agreement is in writing, they could prevent you from using the license in the future.

I believe this business could sell the license to you, although I recommend you first register your business as an LLC before they sell you the license to your company name. Check with PTC licensing to verify that the Pro-E license is transferable. The Pro-E license probably needs to be sold for at least the amount of one dollar to be a valid sale. Do not take it for free, and consult with an attorney if necessary. Some attorneys will provide free initial consultation for 1/2 hour to 1 hour.

I also recommend buying a license of QuickBooks Pro (or some other accounting software) for accounting and bookkeeping. Even if you plan to use an accountant, do your own bookkeeping. Unless you have Pro-E clients lined-up for potential work, I would be reluctant to pay full price for Pro-E as a start-up.

Regards,

Chris Thompson
www.appianwaytech.com


Edited by: c_thompson_68

 

[ankarl]

Go to ptc.com, last time I read about license details they stated it is not permitted to sell or let any other use your license unless doing direct business with you.


They might have changed their policy, but take the advices given and check it carefully.


/Anders

 

[mcgowanp]

I know the licenses I own are not transferable to anyone, its the same for any company that owns a seat of proe, you cannot transfer to another company or sell to another company.


A few companies i know got into a spot of bother for using another companies license to do contract work of their own - so make usre you do get first hand info on this, proe and engineering circles are small and you never know who will inadvertantly saywhat to who!!!!

 

[pro_eek]

Thanks guys I'll check out with PTC directly to make sure.

 

[blockandahole]

You cannot transfer a license from one owner to another. Ask for a copy of the standard license agreement that your company signed with PTC when they bought the software.


The aggreement is legally between PTC and them and is not transfreeable.


I think your company is just trying to get rid of you on the cheap.....

 

[design-engine]

your employer will have to spin off part of the company and sell that to you.simple.

 

[pro_eek]

OK I hear you, yes I'll rather get the $$$ and buy my own license!

 

[Aw KS]

Your old company need to talk to the reseller to arrange for reconfiguring the license to your new company name. It can be done provided your old company go negotiate with ptc. Our old company is not maintenance user. When it shut down the regional operation, we setup new company. We talked to ptc and ptc allow us to transfer the license to our new company name, after we renew the maintenance.

 

[bcooper]

We have transfered licenses inside our corporation. We hade one company downsizing and we needed to expand. We had to have a letter of transfer drafted up and sent to PTC to change the ownership of the license. We may have only gotten by with this because it was in the same corporation and we have to pay the maintenance.

 

[mganzer]

By the way you don't "own" licenses per se. You get complete exclusive rights to use a seat indefinitely. Maintenance gets you upgrades to it & support. It is nearly unheard of to allow "selling" of a seat.

 

[dgs]

I've never heard of a license transfer either except in terms of buying the entire company or a part of the company. Then the license is an asset of the company and gets transferred to the new owners.


I'd be wary of all those promises to use the software 'indefinitely' and such unless you get it in writing. From the outside looking in, it sounds like a way for them to avoid giving you anything of actual value so they don't have to pay me a retrenchment package.


Be wary of big promises with no paperwork!

 

[pro_eek]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I've decided to only accept a situation where my current employer liases directly with PTC to transfer the license to my company name. If they can't pull it off its not my problem or concern.
Edited by: pro_eek

 

[pro_eek]

Your old company need to talk to the reseller to arrange for reconfiguring the license to your new company name. It can be done provided your old company go negotiate with ptc. Our old company is not maintenance user. When it shut down the regional operation, we setup new company. We talked to ptc and ptc allow us to transfer the license to our new company name, after we renew the maintenance.

Aw KS, was it a completely new company that PTC transfered the license to? How did you guys manage to get PTC to do that? In my case it would be a transfer between seperate companies and different owners. Renewing maintenance wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Jotry]

Hi Pro Eek, To my knowledge it is not possible to transfer Pro Engineer Licenses if you don't have the paperwork to prove that the old and new company is related. There are loads of paperwork that needs to be sorted with PTC legal before a transfer is made. Make sure you have all the paperwork settled before agreeing to anything with your current employer. Look out for TLO (Time-Limited Offer) from a PTC reseller near you so that you can make the necessary judgement if you need to purchase. This will help to keep the cost down. By the way, PTC does not sell to personal users, as far as i know, so you will need to register a company first!

 

[gristle]

Does anyone have info on why PTC wont allow transfers?

Just out of interest.

I have transfered licenses for other software I use with no problems at all...

 

[Jotry]

Gristle Wroteoes anyone have info on why PTC wont allow transfers?
Just out of interest.
I have transfered licenses for other software I use with no problems at all...


I believe most softwares will not allow unless there is proof to show that the companies are related. Are the companies related in your case one way or another?My guess would be that if everyone is transferring freely, then ptc will definitely see an impact to their bottom line sales.

 

[dgs]

As mganzer said above, you don't ownthe software you own a license to use and update the software for a specific length of time. It's an agreement between PTC and the company. Once the agreement is entered into, PTC makes it easy to remain in the agreement by keeping renewals (maintenance) low.


It's not in PTC's interest to transfer that license because it looses that upfront purchase. The agreement was between two parties and for you to benefit (in lower renewal rates) from another's upfront investment is in no one's interest but yours. Lots of companies stop paying maintenance or stop suing Pro|E. If they could sell their unused licenses, that would mean the cost to the rest of us would go up.


Now, the license is an asset of the company and if you buy the company you get it's assets, including the license. That's different because you are assuming the role of the original licensee.

 

[gristle]

Gristle Wroteoes anyone have info on why PTC wont allow transfers?
Just out of interest.
I have transfered licenses for other software I use with no problems at all...


I believe most softwares will not allow unless there is proof to show that the companies are related. Are the companies related in your case one way or another?My guess would be that if everyone is transferring freely, then ptc will definitely see an impact to their bottom line sales.

No proof was needed in my case. I even managed to get a third party renderer that was tied to the dongle to be swapped as well. I can understand them wanting to get more sales, but to be honest I find it a bit greedy to not allow a transfer of something that is no longer getting used.