Licences serve as irreplaceable means of sharing technology, innovation and artistic content. In fact, organisations invest in IP assets that can be readily licensed out and often entire businesses are tailored on the licensing pattern.
Be it media and entertainment that rely on third-party owned and protected content, the standards-driven telecommunications industry or information technology, licensing is pervasive across virtually all industries, and is ubiquitous even in business-consumer interaction.
With the prevalence of international standards, licensing has transcended the discretionary and entered the realm of ‘essential’, heralding jurisprudential development in fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms in licence agreements. Generally, however, besides certain laws common across agreements such as law of contract, taxation and competition laws, licences must comply with and incorporate intricacies pertinent to the relevant intellectual property regime.
The firm has expertise advising on, drafting and negotiating licensing agreements for all types of intellectual property. Our holistic approach to licensing arrangements and perspectives gained from agreements vigorously tested in litigation ensure not only a meeting of commercial objectives, such as consideration and maintaining control over use of licensed property, but also ensuring that adequate dispute resolution mechanisms are envisaged and agreements are compliant with competition laws.