Intellectual property rights: Licensing and franchising

Depending on the sector and business strategy of your company, licensing may be an appealing strategy for international expansion. A pre-requisite, however, is that your company owns valuable intellectual property rights, such as a patent over useful technology or a trademark that has acquired a certain reputation. Second, you need to have taken steps to ensure that your IP is protected in the relevant foreign markets. At the heart of any IP licensing agreement is the fact that it allows you as a licensor to obtain revenues from the licensee while retaining ownership of the underlying intellectual property right. In some cases your licensing agreement may permit you to exploit the same IP right as your licensee.

This document is an article out of a series on intellectual property rights published in the CBI News Bulletin in 2006. All articles are written by Esteban Burrone from WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation).