Intellectual Property Licensing
Maximize your Intellectual Property with Royalties and Licensing
Your intellectual property (IP) can easily be just as valuable as—if not more valuable than—tangible property such as a collectable or even real estate. A large number of intellectual property licensing companies solely exist and thrive via marketing products based on licensing of intellectual property rights. The ability to license is yet another reason why it is of the utmost importance to register and protect your intellectual property via patent protection, trademarks, copyrights, and other legal devices that keep your intellectual property safe.
After you have registered your intellectual property rights for your works and ideas, it can be even more convenient or valuable to allow a third-party to produce, sell, and distribute products using your IP in exchange for a licensing fee or recurring royalty, which is why intellectual property agreements are so important. Intellectual property licensing agreements are complex in nature and determine the specific boundaries by which third parties can use your intellectual property.
Intellectual property agreements such as licensing and/or assignment contracts require extensive negotiation about minute details, and owners of intellectual property should conduct these negotiations with the support of an experienced intellectual property lawyer. Through our team, you can connect with our experienced IP lawyers who can help you draft and negotiate the best intellectual property agreement or an intellectual property contract for your interests.
Many licensing agreements are unfortunately lacking of certain formalities and important terms you want to make sure to review and get on the record. Licensing computer software isn’t the same as licensing music, which is different from licensing of art. Licensing photographs for commercial purposes may also require additional documentation beyond a licensing or royalty agreement depending on the subject matter that is photographed. Make sure your work product isn’t using open source libraries that may require a lot of changes down the line in the event your use exceeded the scope of the license. Proper documentation of assignment of rights for audiovisual and software projects are highly important and often under-prioritized in the project management process. Make sure your legal team is ensuring the complete ownership rights of your project. Don’t rely on services to fill in the blanks for you when there are important terms you could be missing.
Benefits of Licensing
Drawbacks to Licensing
- Let another company handle manufacturing and distribution
- Focus your time on creating
- Lower capital requirements
- Creates a passive income
- Your licensee may become the competition
- Lower quality control
- Finite licensing term
- Ownership and license disputes
Intellectual Property Licensing FAQ
Unlike a license, an assignment is a permanent transfer of IP to a buyer. This transfer is permanent and generally occurs as a sale or transfer from an owner (Assignor) and seller to the buyer (Assignee). If you want to transfer ownership of your intellectual property, make sure the transfer is in writing by way of a deed or other written assignment agreement. An assignment recordation can transfer present or future IP rights in exchange for a single lump-sum payment.
An implied intellectual property license hey be found without the existence of a express licensing agreement if the conduct of the licensing party indicates that they actually intended to license or allow certain rights to the licensee. Courts often grant an implied license in a dispute wherein one party authored a work at the request of another but failed to transfer the copyright to the purchaser after payment and completion of the commissioned work.
While both exclusive intellectual property licenses and intellectual property assignment agreements give exclusive exercise of that right to another person in exchange for monetary compensation, an exclusive license is much more limited than an assignment.
