License Agreement Template

Understanding a License Agreement

When it comes to selling goods and services, having a license agreement can sometimes be a necessity. However, it can be a little difficult to understand when license agreements are applicable, why you might need them, and how to sign them. Fortunately, Business-in a-Box is on hand to help you learn more about license agreements and the benefits of using license agreement templates, so you can make the right choice for your business

What Are License Agreements?

License agreements are important documents for many business models and being aware of these is important. They are widely used in many applications and make it possible for products and services to be patented, trademarked, and branded.

The Basics of License Agreements

The most basic feature of license agreements is that they are used for giving permission to other entities to use a trademark or patent. This is seen in many ways in the business trading world, whereby the licensor, the property owner, allows the licensee, the permitted party, to use the rights to a product, brand, or any other form of intellectual property.

In exchange for the rights to the intellectual property, the licensee usually has to pay a fee or some other form of compensation to the licensor. License agreements also cover any other terms and regulations surrounding the provision of rights to use the trademark, brand, or patented property.

What Do License Agreements Contain

So, you might now be wondering – what should a license agreement contain? License agreements need to be thorough and detailed in order to fulfil their purpose. In doing so, they will provide protection for the licensor’s intellectual property to not be misused but still make it possible for the licensee to use the intellectual property effectively.

Some of the things that you might include in license agreements could include who the licensee and licensor are; the compensation or payments needed for the license agreements to be fulfilled; any specific requirements for using the intellectual property; the termination conditions for the license agreements, and more.

Why License Intellectual Property

There are a wide variety of reasons why you might want to get a license for intellectual property. Similarly, multiple perks might mean you want to sell licenses for your own intellectual property as the owner. We will briefly cover some of these reasons now, so you can decide whether licensing intellectual property, such as a brand name or patent, could be a suitable option for you to try.

The Benefits of Licensing

For the licensor who owns the intellectual property, the most notable benefit of licensing is the extra source of revenue. Most license agreements will require the licensee to pay a compensatory fee to the licensor in exchange for the right to use their patent, trademark, or brand. In doing so, the licensor can enjoy an extra revenue source for their brand. Moreover, licensing intellectual property may also help increase exposure for the brand. This could be beneficial for increasing your brand’s reputation and potentially even the licensor’s sales directly.

Of course, there are also multiple benefits for the licensee to obtaining the rights to use established intellectual property. Licensing intellectual property, such as a patent or trademark, can give the licensee an immediate boost to their new product or service. By using or displaying the logo of an established brand, the new venture will potentially be more successful if customers already trust the brand name. This, in turn, can lead to reduced marketing costs, enhanced sales, and superior profitability for the new venture overall. It can also make it possible for the licensee to enter into an existing market that might otherwise be inaccessible to them.

Do not Forget to Consider the Drawbacks

Of course, you should always consider the drawbacks of licensing intellectual property, too. When you provide someone else with the rights to use your patents or trademarks, you face the risk that they will damage your brand’s existing reputation. For example, suppose the licensee should make mistakes with their new products. In that case, this could have a severe negative impact on your brand’s existing reputation with customers.

Additionally, it is always worth noting that the licensee, whether purposefully or accidentally, could share your brand’s secrets or patent information with other unrelated names. This is always a risk, even if you sign confidentiality agreements to prevent this. This could compromise the secrecy of your brand and may allow rival companies to access your invention’s ideas and principles. Of course, while it would be illegal for other brands to directly copy your patented products, that is not to say they won’t take inspiration to develop their own solutions.

What to Include in License Agreements

If you have been thinking about writing your own license agreements, be it with a license agreement template or otherwise, then you should ensure you know what to include. Indeed, if your license agreement has any loopholes, you could find yourself losing control somewhat of your patent or trademark. In turn, this could have negative implications for your brand. As such, getting the license agreement right first time is vital.

A good license agreement needs to be detailed and in-depth, so you should not feel limited as to what you write in yours. However, as a starter, some things you might choose to include in your license agreements are as follows:

• Who the license agreements are between – your license agreements should detail who the relevant parties involved in the license agreements are. These parties will be the licensor and the licensees. You should provide contact details and the like for all the parties involved.
• Intellectual property – the license agreement needs to cover the details of the intellectual property, including what is on offer as part of the licensing agreement. If any aspects of the intellectual property are not covered as part of the license agreements, you will need to ensure that this is expressed clearly in the document.
• Purpose – your license agreements should cover the purpose for issuing rights to use the intellectual property. In other words, this section should detail why the license is needed and how the property can be used by the licensee.
• Timelines and duration – when writing license agreements, make sure you include information about the term and duration for the agreement to remain active. You should also include information about whether there’s potential for the agreement to be extended past the agreed duration.
• Termination – all license agreements should cover the termination of the contract, including what will happen if the contract is terminated and factors that might lead to the termination.

Of course, it is always imperative that you go as in-depth as possible for your license agreements, to cover all scenarios and eliminate the risk of leaving any loopholes. So, it’s vital you cover all of these points and more, if necessary – and license agreement templates may help you to do so.

Always Get a Second Opinion

If you’ve been thinking about writing license agreements, make sure you have someone you can ask to check it over. Indeed, it can be hard to spot errors or loopholes in your own work. However, having someone else on hand to give the document a look over and provide a second opinion may be helpful. This can help you to avoid any potential errors that could be costly. Alternatively, getting a legal advisor to check your document for errors could be a cost-effective way to get the license agreements right. Meanwhile, it will also keep the costs of doing so down.

License Agreement Templates

Unless you have a legal background, writing license agreements will be a major challenge and you may struggle to do so; in this case, you may want to get professional support for creating your license agreements.

Are License Agreement Templates A Good Option?

So, what makes license agreement templates a good option? More and more people are creating their license agreements with help from specially made license agreement templates, and these can be beneficial options for the reasons described below.

A main benefit of license agreement templates for creating your license agreements is the ease and efficiency of doing so. Trying to write license agreements from scratch is a significant challenge. Unless you or your staff happen to have a legal background, you have likely never written or completed a document of this type before. Naturally, this can seriously complicate things. However, license agreement templates provide the basis for your agreement, which makes writing them much easier and more efficient. In doing so, you will be able to spend much more time doing what you do best.

Legal fees are incredibly expensive but doing your own work on license agreements can help you save money. However, writing a license agreement freehand will be difficult and can be incredibly time-consuming, which may not be an efficient use of funds. However, license agreement templates can make it possible for you to complete your documents rapidly. This will help you save on legal fees while also keeping things simple for your team.

You know your brand better than anyone else, so it generally makes sense for you to be the one to write the license agreements. This will save on time teaching your legal advisor about your brand and its unique features while also guaranteeing that the information you have included in your license agreements is correct and accurate.

These are just a selection of the reasons why people choose to use license agreement templates for writing their license agreements.

Where to Find License Agreement Templates?

Do you think that license agreement templates could be a good fit for your company’s needs? Many people choose license agreement templates for writing their agreements, and this can offer many benefits. Most notably, you can be confident that you will include all the relevant information. Meanwhile, you will also save a lot of time and enhance your firm’s efficiency overall.

However, it is integral that you choose the right license agreement templates – because invariably, not all license agreement templates are created equally. Always choose a solution that’s been made with professional support by expert template designers; you’ll reap the rewards for your final license agreements.

Sign Up to Find Your Perfect License Agreement Templates Today!

To find the best license agreement templates, make sure you choose a professional team of template designers to help. Fortunately, our expansive collection of license agreements and business templates could be the ideal option for your company.

Sign up today and get access to our collection of over 2000 business templates, including license agreement templates; there is sure to be one to help you. Whatever your business needs might be, we have a business template that could meet those needs.