What is an IP licensing agreement? 

An intellectual property licensing agreement occurs between an IP rights owner (“licensor”) and someone who is authorized to use the rights (“licensee”) in exchange for monetary value in the form of a fee or a royalty. The two parties agree on the terms and conditions via negotiation, with the outcome dependent upon the bargaining power of each side. The licensor is always the owner of the licensed intellectual property, and one license can cover patent and design rights, related know-how and a trademark. The agreement between the two parties can allow the licensor to tap into the licensee’s productive capacity and relevant local expertise, thus increasing the licensor’s overall knowledge. 

The benefits of an intellectual property license 

• get your products or services to a market or geographical territory in less time 
• allow risks to be shared 
• create additional revenue  
• lead to an increase in market penetration 
• reduction in costs and time 
• access to expertise 
• competitive advantage 
• increased collaboration   
• opportunity to minimize capital investment. 

What can be subject to an intellectual property licensing agreement? 

Intellectual property that can be licensed includes: 

• Trademarks for branding of products and services 
• Patents for technology (goods and processes) 
• Registered product designs 
• Copyright for literature or artistic work 
• Confidential information that keeps IP secure 

How Metis Partners can help

If you’re looking in to additional intellectual property strategies, contact us today to see how we can help you with your intellectual property license.

Metis Partners is known as the experts in the field of intellectual property including formal intellectual properties such as copyrights, trademarks, what is a patent, designs, and more. We also provide sound guidance in informal intellectual properties such as trade secrets, Why are brand and reputation so important, strategy and market intelligence, to name a few.