Posts Tagged: "IP Licensing"

Terms of Obligation in IP Licenses: Respecting Tradition While Enhancing Clarity

In teaching Intellectual Property (IP) licensing for the Licensing Executives Society (USA & Canada), Inc., we often open with the first principle of contracts: the “contract” is the meeting of the minds between the parties. What did they actually agree to? The work of the written agreement is to memorialize that meeting of the minds. It is necessarily imperfect. Sir Ernest Gowers aptly describes the challenge of good writing generally, saying it is “the choice and arrangement of words in such a way as to get an idea as exactly as possible out of one mind and into another.” (Sir Ernest Gowers, Plain Words: Their ABC, Alfred Knopf, New York, 1955). In IP licensing, it is the difficult task of reducing to writing an idea from two or more minds such that it conveys to both what each conceived of as the agreement.

The IP Counselor’s Checklist for Adding Value During Patent Prosecution

As the new year begins, I’ve been reflecting on what makes patent practitioners highly valuable to their clients. In a prior IPWatchdog article, I asserted that one should aspire to practice as an intellectual property counselor—who leverages patent prosecution as one strategic tool among many, rather than narrowly conceptualizing his or her role. What about the day-to-day acts of preparing and prosecuting a patent application? Here are ten concrete steps IP counselors can take to advance their clients’ interests and distinguish themselves from their peers.

Contracts 101: Covenants, Representations and Warranties in IP License Agreements

It continually amazes me that many business folks who negotiate tons of IP license agreements, fail to understand the difference between covenants, representations, and warranties that are “standard” in many such agreements.  Well, that is not too surprising.  What is very surprising, however, is that many of their lawyers fail to appreciate the differences as well!  Many think the terms are synonymous and thus use them interchangeably. They are not.  So, for those of you tired of faking the funk, here is some (either fresh or refresher) Contracts 101!

Ericsson and LG Enter into Global Cross-Licensing Agreement for 2G, 3G and 4G Mobile SEPs

Swedish multinational telecommunications company Ericsson and South Korean consumer electronics firm LG Electronics announced that they had entered into a global licensing agreement to cross-license patent portfolios held by both companies. The patents in these portfolios include standard-essential patents (SEPs) related to various cellular technologies, including those related to second generation (2G), third generation (3G) and fourth generation (4G) cellular standards.

Letter to President Trump on China IP Probe is Latest Sign of Conservative Support for Private IP Rights

A group of 16 leaders from politically conservative institutions sent a letter addressed to President Donald Trump lauding the Trump Administration’s decision last summer to initiate an investigation into Chinese trade practices regarding intellectual property. The investigation, authorized under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, was aimed at identifying instances where U.S. technologies have been forcibly transferred to Chinese entities as a cost of entering the Chinese domestic market as a foreign entity… The recent letter to President Trump from conservative leaders is the latest indication that right-leaning institutions and think tanks have been more engaged with the debate surrounding the current U.S. intellectual property system.