If the licensee fails to abide by the terms of the contract, the licensor could revoke any agreed-upon rights granted to them. Some believe that the goal of trademark registration is to prevent others from using their brand identifiers. Licensing agreements allow you to do this while garnering significant benefits.
The following are just a small sampling of trademark licensing advantages:. If you craft an agreement that covers all potential outcomes, the benefits of trademark licensing can be numerous. Once this is signed, however, the contract is legally-binding.
This makes it important to have a trademark attorney prepare the agreement. Trademark assignment is considered less risky than licensing. This is because the transferring of rights is a one-time event, and from that point forward, the original owner usually has no further connection with the brand. Licensing creates an ongoing relationship between the involved parties, and this can create potential hardships or legal issues the parties did not envision.
Failing to properly consider all potential issues and address them in writing could eventually lead to trademark litigation or other contractual disputes. When finalizing arrangements, remember the following:. A licensing agreement grants a licensee permission to utilize a trademark in some manner. This will transfer all the rights, title and interest of a brand identifier to the recipient. Among all trademarks registered with the USPTO, about 20 percent are transferred in this manner at least once during their lifetime.
There are many reasons that a trademark owner may choose assign a trademark. Some of the most common include retirement, moving on to a new business, or the costs of manufacturing, marketing and defending against third-party claims. Trademark assignments are also common when a business is dissolved or a new entity for the business is formed.
For full protection the assignment should be filed no longer than three months after the date of assignment. Submitting this information constitutes prima facie evidence that the execution has occurred.
An Asset Purchase Agreement is typically used to transfer rights to a trademark and it alone is not sufficient to fully transfer ownership. These can also be assigned. If you are considering trademark licensing and would like our assistance, please contact us today. Trademark Licensing. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
What is Trademark Licensing? Consider the following examples: Characters from popular television shows licensed to toy makers. Sports teams, musicians, and festivals license their name and logos to merchandise producers.
Neither additional parties nor the licensor themselves can exercise any commercial rights. In a co-branding relationship, two or more companies with trademarks join to create one product or service that features both brands. Consider this scenario: a luxury car manufacturer co-brands a line of vehicles with a fashion house known for high-quality leather that designs the specialty interior.
Both trademarks are used in the marketing of the top-of-the-line cars subject to a co-branding license agreement. A laptop that uses well-known processing software or an ice cream that contains a popular cookie are good examples.
You may remember from past articles the primary purpose of a trademark: trademarks are the symbols that communicate to the consumer the origin of a particular good or service. The main function of a trademark is to help consumers know where a particular product or service comes from and to know where to go to continue to purchase this good or receive this service.
How will consumers be able to know where a good or service is coming from if trademarks can be used by companies other than the trademark owner? Think of it this way: you own a trademark for the logo of your company that sells super-absorbent kitchen towels. Then, you license the use of that logo to a licensee, another company that makes towels.
See the issue? For information about licensing of university trademarks for external commercial use, please visit the Licensing Basics page. The use of names, logos, and symbols which distinguish the University of Houston are governed by the Board of Regents Policy Internal use occurs whenever any division, college, program, department, faculty, staff, student, or registered student organization uses the university marks on promotional materials for their own use or free distribution.
When promotional items are ordered bearing the university marks for internal use, the items must be ordered from a licensed vendor and abide by UH Branding Standards logo, color, typography, etc.
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