You may choose to enter your intellectual property into a licensing agreement if you wish for another party to help you earn more profits. This is oftentimes seen as beneficial, except for when there is a breach of this agreement. Continue reading to learn what is considered a breach of a licensing agreement and how an experienced New Jersey licensing agreement lawyer at The Ingber Law Firm can help you resolve this issue.
What are the benefits of a licensing agreement?
The main benefit of a licensing agreement is that you can still earn a profit off of your intellectual property without completely transferring over your ownership rights to another party. Instead, this is an agreement between you and another party that allows them to use some of your specific intellectual property rights, and in a specific manner, so long as they ensure your reception of revenue or royalties. Essentially, this allows you to capitalize upon and exploit each other’s capabilities.
In what ways can a breach of a licensing agreement occur?
While a licensing agreement can be beneficial, it can be detrimental if it is breached whatsoever. Such a breach can be intentional or unintentional in nature, but nonetheless disadvantageous.
For example, the Grant of Rights section in a licensing agreement states which parties and which intellectual property are involved in the transaction. So sometimes, a breach occurs if a parent company licenses the intellectual property instead of the agreed-upon, smaller entity. Or other times, a breach occurs when an entity licenses the entirety of the intellectual property instead of the agreed-upon trademark, slogan, or otherwise.
Another example is the scope of the grant, which details the exclusivity of the license, the territory it can be established, and the timeframe of the deal. And so, a breach can occur in the following ways:
- Exclusivity: your agreement states that only the licensee can use your intellectual property, but you continue to license it to other parties.
- Territory: your agreement states geographic restrictions to where a licensee can use your intellectual property, but they use it beyond these borders.
- Term: your agreement state the duration of time a licensee is allowed to use your intellectual property, but they use it beyond this deadline.
What should I do if I experience an infringement of my agreement?
First of all, before even entering your intellectual property into a licensing agreement, it is important to hire a skilled Essex County, New Jersey intellectual property lawyer. This is because a lawyer will be better able to analyze the language and terms of the agreement so to prevent a breach from occurring in the first place.
But in the unfortunate event that another party breaches your agreement, a lawyer can represent you in litigation proceedings, and overall guide you through your legal situation. So, without further ado, call our firm to schedule your initial consultation today.
