License agreement

Services

Trademarks

The license agreement defines the terms of mutually beneficial interaction between the Licensor (the copyright holder of the invention or trademark) and the Licensee (the user who is given the opportunity to use the results of the Licensor’s intellectual work).

First of all, it is a tool for doing business, provides legal protection for the parties, guarantees the owner of intellectual property the receipt of income from the transaction, and the licensee the opportunity to make a profit. The subject of the License Agreement is the right to use the results of intellectual work within established limits in a given territory and within a certain time frame.

A license agreement differs from a trade contract in the intangible nature of the object of the transaction and the possibility of “dual” ownership when the Licensor retains the intellectual property right. At the same time, the Licensee may transfer the right to use the object to a third party, but only if this is stipulated in the License Agreement.

The objects of the License Agreement may be: literary and artistic works, scientific works, trademarks, service marks, inventions, industrial designs, geographical names, plant varieties and animal breeds, etc.

License agreements can be non-exclusive (provide for the transfer of the ability to use intellectual property to one or more users while maintaining similar powers with the primary copyright holder) and exclusive (all rights are transferred to one user without reserving the corresponding rights for the transferring party).

A license agreement is considered concluded if its parties have reached a common position on all issues that are significant, from the point of view of the law. In this case, the following conditions must be met: the presence of the subject of the agreement, that is, the right to use the intellectual property; description of products using intellectual property; scope of rights of the Licensee and Licensor; product quality guarantee; period and geography of activity; the amount of remuneration transferred to the Licensee (the specific amount is determined by the parties to the transaction or is set at the level of the market value of similar goods and services).

Drawing up a license agreement for intellectual property and submitting it to the patent authorities requires special training and relevant knowledge. Therefore, in order to avoid mistakes, it is necessary to contact professionals. The specialists of our company Erfis have experience working with domestic and foreign clients and provide professional preparation of licensing agreements for intellectual property.

Question and answer

What is a trademark?

A trademark is a means for individualizing the goods of the Copyright Holder. To individualize the services of the Copyright Holder, the term “service mark” is used.

Why register a trademark?

Registering a trademark allows you to protect your business from unscrupulous competitors.

So, for example, in accordance with Article 1515 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, if competitors try to use your registered trademark, you have the right to recover from the violator from 10,000 to 5,000,000 rubles (determined at the discretion of the court based on the nature of the violation) and forever prohibit him from using your designation.

Registration of a trademark allows you to ensure the security of the company’s assets, since an unregistered trademark can become a target for unscrupulous competitors who can register it in their name, after which they have the right not only to force you to change the designation, but also to collect from you up to 5,000,000 rubles.

In addition, registration of a trademark can serve as a reliable protection of the company’s reputation and increase the status of the brand, and its owner has the right to use the security mark “®” next to the registered trademark, which helps not only to increase the status of the brand, but also to strengthen consumer confidence in the company’s services or products. With an unregistered trademark, the use of this marking is subject to Art. 180 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (up to 4 years of imprisonment).

A registered trademark can be used profitably by concluding licensing agreements and franchising agreements (commercial concession agreement).

A registered trademark can also be used as collateral for an intangible asset (IMA), which can be valued and placed on the organization’s balance sheet, which not only allows increasing the authorized capital, but can also significantly facilitate relationships with banks and investors.

What is the validity period of a trademark?

10 years with the possibility of multiple extensions for another 10 years.

What is the period for registering a trademark?

The standard period for registering a trademark is 6-10 months. The period may be extended if an examination is requested.

Currently, it is possible to register a trademark within 2 months.

Other popular questions

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