Too often traditional internal patent management strategies are used, while the exploitation of the newer notion of external patenting would allow to capture greater value. Therefore, the aim of this article is to identify and analyse the most common external patent exploitation motives and its forms. The research method applied is the literature review in the area of strategic management. As the analysis has shown, the motives of external patent exploitation can be divided into strategic (internal and external) and monetary motives, which allowed their clearer depiction. The most popular forms of external patent exploitation are: licensing out, cross-licensing, patent pools, patent selling, joint ventures and strategic alliances. Their use is dependent on multiple factors and connected with specific advantages and risks, as exemplified in the article.