Like any contract, an international licensing agreement spells out the rights and obligations of the contracting parties, manages potential risks and supplies a contingency plan for each party in the event the contractual relationship breaks down. However, international licensing of intellectual property, software or technology confronts the contracting parties with its own distinct challenges. When planning, drafting and negotiating such agreements, it is imperative to know exactly what core issues need to be addressed. This book provides this know-how in an easy-to-use, clear and concise fashion. This expert guide to the complex world of international licensing agreements brings together all the essential materials needed when dealing with such agreements and covers the following: • business models that may be used by the contracting parties; • standard provisions encountered in an array of international licensing agreements; • analysis of the key clauses in various international licensing agreements inter alia trademark, software, franchise and technology licences with provisions as affected by jurisdiction; • effect of competition law in a variety of jurisdictions; • ensuring trademark protection at both national and international levels; • clear explanation of key franchising terminology and disclosure rules; and • effect of international dispute resolution rules in a range of jurisdictions. Alongside detailed contract analysis, the book details numerous case studies from an array of industries, with detailed commentary. Practitioners operating within or representing medium to large firms who normally have to prepare or provide advice on international licence arrangements will quickly find this reference material indispensable. The book’s thorough analysis of this complex area will also be welcomed by professionals working for universities, industry, interest groups, government departments and international organisations.

This Manual focuses on issues essential for understanding licensing, including: the context in which licensing may occur; key terms of a licensing agreement and negotiation methods; and how to prepare for and negotiate a win-win licensing contract.

Increasingly, firms use licensing to exploit and commercialize trademarks internationally. In a globalized market, the free flow of goods and services by means of licensing requires detailed knowledge of national legal provisions and principles that apply to agreements of this type. This chapter-by-chapter comparative overview on the law and application of trademark licensing worldwide – including chapters on such key commercial jurisdictions as the EU Member States, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, and Japan – is written by a team of experienced and distinguished attorneys, each representing a particular country. Each contributor describes and analyses legal challenges and offers practical guidance on licensing issues in his or her national jurisdiction. Within this framework, each chapter discusses such issues and topics as the following: country-specific regulations on trademark licensing; particular legal requirements to be complied with prior to entering into a license agreement; antitrust legislation affecting the scope of a license agreement; breach of a trademark licensing agreement; circumstances under which a breach of contract also constitutes a trademark infringement; permitted extent of non-compete or non-challenge clauses; licensee’s standing to sue third parties for trademark infringement; effect of invalidation or expiry of the licensed trademark on the agreement; and licensee’s right to claim entitlement to goodwill in the trademark, or a right to compensation, for investments made in the trademark. Because of the broad range and variety of countries covered, the book will be welcomed by legal practitioners dealing or coming into contact with trademark licensing in practically any jurisdiction. Taken together, the chapters provide invaluable insights into the similarities and differences among the covered jurisdictions, helping trademark holders and their counsel to understand the particulars of a specific market and deciding whether to enter it or not. It will also be valuable as a comprehensive resource for academic researchers or policymakers interested in the international harmonization of intellectual property licensing law.

One of the alleged benefits of the recent global movement to strengthen intellectual property rights (IPRs) is that such reforms accelerate transfers of technology between countries. Branstetter, Fisman, and Foley examine how technology transfer among U.S. multinational firms changes in response to a series of IPR reforms undertaken by 12 countries over the 1982-99 period. Their analysis of detailed firm-level data reveal that royalty payments for intangibles transferred to affiliates increase at the time of reforms, as do affiliate research and development (R & D) expenditures and total levels of foreign patent applications. Increases in royalty payments and R & D expenditures are more than 20 percent larger among affiliates of parent companies that use U.S. patents more extensively prior to reform and therefore are expected to value IPR reform most. This paper--a product of Trade, Development Research Group--is part of a larger effort in the group to understand the global impact of stronger intellectual property rights.

In Technology Licensing and Development Agreements, Cynthia Cannady guides readers through the negotiation and drafting of agreements, and how to monitor compliance once they are in place.

Patents as an Incentive for Innovation Edited by Rafal Sikorski & Zaneta Zemla-Pacud Patents are a reward for human inventiveness. A well-functioning patent system must provide incentives for innovation, safeguard dynamic competition and protect the public interest – a balancing act fraught with difficulty in the ‘connected’ global world. This ground-breaking book is the first to deeply analyse how patent law today performs its function of stimulating innovation in the crucial sectors of healthcare, agriculture, artificial intelligence and communications technology. Patent specialists, practitioners and scholars from various jurisdictions thoroughly describe how patent rights can be deployed to incentivize investments in researching and developing socially critical innovations without sacrificing the public’s interest in sharing the benefits that are produced. Among the emerging issues of patent rights investigated are the following: protectability and morality of according private rights over material derived from the human body; licensing on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms; the supplementary protection certificate (SPC) manufacturing waiver; patent eligibility of artificial intelligence-related inventions; excessive enforcement of patents by patent assertion entities; enforcement of second medical use innovations; the so-called farmer’s privilege, the farm-save seed exemption, and breeders’ rights; international trade regulations and their influence on patent systems; human enhancement technologies and the consequences of patenting them; specifics of patent protection for biologic medicines; challenges posed by artificial intelligence for the disclosure requirement in patent law; and standard essential patent licensing, particularly in the context of the 5G standard. Perspectives taken into consideration by the authors include protectability criteria, length and scope of the granted protection, mechanisms for dealing with the friction between generalized application and specialized concerns, and rights enforcement. These aspects are analysed on the domestic, international and global levels. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to strike the right balance between innovation and access in healthcare and other technologies, a need rooted in patent law. Because the problems discussed – and solutions offered – in this collection of expert essays are of tremendous practical and cultural significance, the book will be of immeasurable value to practitioners, policymakers and researchers in patent law and other fields of intellectual property law.

In patent communities, several patentees cooperate contractually to license the respective patented technologies to third parties. In consideration of the rising relevance of this business practice, this dissertation discusses crucial courses and strategic considerations - which are the basis for the establishment of patent communities, both in legal and empirical regard - in order to identify the optimal conditions for successful conversion in a competitive surrounding. Thus, the best conditions for the promotion of innovation are to be created. In this regard, the composition and the structure are examined within such communities, with special consideration of the nature of the contained technologies (e.g. "complementary" contrary to "substitute" technologies). Furthermore, the study is completed by taking into account the regulation of the EU and of the US. Dissertation.

The WIPO Guide provides a practical overview of licensing of copyright and related rights in a global marketplace, for literary, musical, graphic and pictorial works, motion pictures, multimedia entertainment and education products and computer software. Internationally renowned authors address each industry in turn, as well as giving an overview of the general business and legal principles involved in the licensing of copyright and related rights, and their collective management.