Your business is home to valuable information, including your intellectual property (IP). If your company owns and controls valuable IP, you may consider licensing it to other organisations. Many business owners seek to license their IP rather than sell it. A licence agreement can help set limits on what other organisations can do when possessing a licence for that IP. This article will explore how licence agreements work and their potential benefits for your organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IP covers information your business owns regarding unique creations or trade marks<\/a>. It can cover many things such as: <\/p>\n\n\n\n The critical word is \u2018unique\u2019. For example, numerous companies can have IP over different digital mapping software if they are all different. Your business can also gain IP by purchasing it from another company. Naturally, this would not be a licence but rather an outright purchase. Purchasing IP from other organisations can be profitable if it gives your company a competitive edge. Alternatively, your business may wish to license it to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By licensing its IP, your company effectively lends it to others. When the licence expires, your business prohibits further use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is similar to renting a DVD or purchasing it in a shop. If an individual purchases a film from a store, they can watch it as often as they want for as long as they wish. If they get bored of the film, they can lend it to someone else (akin to licensing) or sell it. What they do and when is entirely in their hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alternatively, if the individual borrows or rents the film, they can only watch the film for the period allowed by the owner. They cannot sell it, nor should they lend it to anyone else, as the owner may ask for it back at any point. This is akin to the licence period ending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Licence agreements play a valuable role in policing what the other party can and cannot do with your IP whilst it is in their possession. Continuing with the DVD example, you are unlikely to want another organisation to license your product to someone else (known as sub-licensing).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n Continue reading this article below the form\n <\/i>\n<\/a>\n\n
What Does Licencing My IP Involve?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n