Licensing

Intellectual property rights can form the basis for licensing in several ways, depending on a company’s needs and strategy:

• One-way licensing:
  You can license out your own rights to others, or license in technology and rights you wish to use yourself.
• Licensing with the right to sublicense:
  In some cases, the licensee may be granted the right to sublicense to other parties. This provides greater flexibility and can help accelerate market expansion.
• Cross-licensing:
  Two or more companies with patents or technologies in related fields can license rights to each other. This allows for better use of the technology and can help avoid conflicts or patent infringement.

For many businesses, it can be challenging to fully develop and commercialize an idea with strong market potential – especially if financial resources are limited. Licensing can open up new opportunities for value creation and growth, without having to take on all the risk yourself.

There are different ways to set up payment in a licensing agreement, depending on what the parties agree on. The most common are:

• a one-time payment (paid at the start),
• ongoing royalties, which means regular payments based on how much is sold or produced using the licensed idea or product,
• or a combination of both.

Negotiating a licensing agreement can be both time-consuming and complex. A license is a legally binding document, so it’s important that the content is clearly written and carefully thought through.

If you don’t have experience with licensing or intellectual property rights, it’s a good idea to consult a lawyer, patent attorney, or other legal expert with relevant expertise.

A licensing agreement should usually address the following points (this is not a complete list):

• Who are the parties involved?
• What is the scope of the license? Does it cover the entire right or only parts of it? What is the legal protection it provides?
• Is the license exclusive or non-exclusive? There may also be conditions for maintaining exclusivity over time.
• Can the licensee grant sublicenses? If yes, are there any limitations?
• Which geographic area does the license cover?
• What information must the licensor provide?
• Who is responsible for handling infringements, and who pays for it?
• Who has the right to make improvements or modifications to the technology or design?
• Will the licensor provide technical or other support?
• How will payment be structured? One-time fee, milestone payments, ongoing royalties – or a combination?

Records of license agreements in the Norwegian Industrial Property Office 's registers provides legal protection in the event of conflicts of rights.

The Norwegian Industrial Property Office registers information about licenses that have been granted in a trademark, design or patent right if one of the parties notifies them. It is sufficient that one of the parties wishes such a notification and delivers a notice of license. We have a separate form for this.