Patent Licensing

The exhaustive exploitation of an innovation protected by patent often involves licensing activities: the licensor, the owner of a patent, grants the licensee the right to use the innovation against payment of a fee. 

Licensing must be studied strategically and executed through contracts that protect the parties’ interests. While the licensor must seek to protect the innovation by a third party, the party acquiring a license for the use of industrial property developed outside of it must be attentive.

Thanks to ample experience with this delicate subject on an international scale, Jacobacci & Partners has developed license verification programs that can be a fundamental tool for parties before finalizing the license deal. We have also developed plans to assist clients in the implementation of the license obligations once the contracts are concluded. In this process, the client, licensor or licensee, has the advantage of professional support throughout the course of the licensing relationship.

There are multiple advantages to ensuring that the licensing process is conducted correctly, for both contracting parties. In exchange for granting the licensee a right of economic use of the patent, the licensor retains ownership and receives a royalty as compensation. Meanwhile, the licensee obtains a right to economic use of the innovation for the benefit of its business, while leaving the burden of maintenance and protection of the title to the licensor.

A patent licensing relationship that is not attentively structured or executed may run into certain issues, such as those arising from the lack of attention to what is granted or received, or the failure to undertake actions that need to be implemented once the contracts are concluded. In other words, both the licensor and the licensee could face numerous risks throughout the course of the licensing relationship.