intellectual property licensing

A license of intellectual property rights is a permission to do something that would otherwise be an infringement of an intellectual property right. IP licenses may be granted by contract or statute. To exercise IP rights without the permission of the owner would be an infringement of either copyright, a patent, trade mark or design in England. Exclusive intellectual property licenses must be granted in writing, signed by the licensor.

The grant of an intellectual property license does not involve the transfer of any of the proprietary rights (i.e. ownership) of the intellectual property rights, as a license is in the nature of a permission. Certain types of licenses must be granted in writing and depends upon the type of intellectual property right.

Usage: The owner of IP rights exploited its ownership.

Related Words: intellectual property; copyright; patent; registered trade mark.