Such basic administrative authority would also enable the seamless return of stolen NFTs, which may help prevent situations like the one concerning a stolen Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT that headlined industry news this past spring. Such restrictions are essential with the increase in NFT adoption by luxury brands or other companies for which the protection of brand and public image is paramount. As such, NFT ventures must take steps to ensure every sale of their NFTs is conspicuously accompanied by their license terms. This may be accomplished by including licenses directly in the listings of NFTs, through click-wrap agreements, or perhaps through some mechanism utilizing the NFT’s metadata. Certain NFT marketplaces embed licensing terms directly into listing, which greatly reduces the risk of unenforceable licenses. Through cross-licensing agreements and technology transfers, IP licensing promotes innovation by encouraging knowledge sharing and collaboration.
- Instead, such sales of NFTs often happen on NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, where the inclusion of licensing terms is not required to purchase or sell an NFT.
- Businesses often need to use works protected by copyright or related rights works to support their business activities.
- Second, and perhaps the most pervasive licensing failure, is that some NFT ventures provide explicit license language in connection with their NFTs but fail to put NFT purchasers on notice of the existence or terms of the license.
- Optimize your IT infrastructure, reduce costs, and accelerate your digital transformation with licenses compatible with advanced technologies.
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NFT ventures should seek to avoid this outcome through basic, coded mechanisms that allow for the efficient enforcement of licensing terms. In most major NFT ventures, licensing terms are tucked away on a venture’s website, which may not be where either primary or secondary sales of the NFTs take place. Instead, such sales of NFTs often happen on NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, where the inclusion of licensing terms is not required to purchase or sell an NFT. IP licensing fosters economic growth by encouraging innovation and enabling businesses to leverage each other’s IP assets.
- Without these hard-coded mechanisms, licenses are only useful to the extent they are successfully enforced through litigation, assuming NFT holders can be identified.
- Licensing provides you with the valuable opportunity to expand into new markets, add revenue streams through royalties, develop partnerships etc.
- This is an alternative to licencing whereby the ownership shifts permanently, rather than temporarily, and usually for a higher value given the original owner will cease to own the IP.
- Moreover, the absence of a legally binding contract could result in the loss of IP ownership rights altogether.
In the ever-evolving landscape of intellectual property (IP) rights, businesses and individuals often find themselves navigating complex legal terrain. IP licensing is a crucial aspect of this landscape, enabling the lawful use, transfer, and monetisation of intellectual property assets. The joint venture will, therefore, often include license agreements to regulate the use of relevant IP rights.
Blockchain Services
Third and lastly, even if an NFT venture does provide an explicit and conspicuous license, the terms may be implemented in a way that is nevertheless impossible or impracticable to enforce. However, it’s highly recommended that you seek legal advice to assist with the licence drafting process to ensure that your agreements align with legal requirements and that your commercial interests are considered. Licensees often benefit from the expertise and experience of the licensor, which can be invaluable in industries where specialised knowledge is required.
IP rights assignment
In this post, we delve into the concept of IP licensing, including different types, key principles, and the significance of licensing for businesses and individuals looking to exploit their IP. FractPro is a DAO that will provide a suite of fractionalisation services from project inception to exit. FractPro will license its services including our project incubator, accelerator and IP on a fee for service model, or project equity participation for projects that are socially and environmentally responsible. China Patent Agent (H.K.) Ltd. was incorporated in 1984, accompanying the launch of the Chinese Patent Law. Besides our Hong Kong-based main office, we also have offices in Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, New York, Tokyo and Munich, forming a global network to provide around-the-clock quality IP services to our clients.
Merchande licensing
A joint venture may consist of any business relationship that involves two or more enterprises pooling their resources with the objective of implementing a common business purpose. Often, in such agreements, one party will contribute technology or know-how belonging to them and the other party may contribute financially or through expertise. statins: types, uses, side effects, and alternatives To resolve these enforcement issues, NFT issuers may grant themselves administrative authority over the NFT smart contract’s code, allowing them to unilaterally change ownership of NFTs.
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Unitalen Attorneys at Law
IP licensing is a dynamic and essential aspect of intellectual property law that empowers creators, businesses, and innovators to maximise the value of their intellectual property assets. These agreements, whether exclusive, non-exclusive, or sole, provide a legal framework for the use, transfer, and commercialisation of intellectual property while protecting the interests of both licensors and licensees. If challenged in court, a purchaser could successfully argue that they are not subject to any license terms since they were not aware of the license or did not assent to its terms. Consequently, any licensing restrictions on the use of the intellectual property assets represented by the NFT, such as a restriction on commercialization of the asset, may be unenforceable. Moreover, the absence of a legally binding contract could result in the loss of IP ownership rights altogether.
Ever since our establishments, we have kept on striving to serve our clients with high degree of professionalism and integrity, in adherence to its philosophy of full commitment to the protection of our clients’ IP rights. The trust and confidence from our clients have also been a strong impetus for us to exert our upmost to provide even better services. In the days to come, we look forward to extending quality services to you, so that your IP interests will be protected and your prosperous presence in the vast market of China securely anchored. With global markets in mind, IP licensing can facilitate international expansion by allowing businesses to operate in foreign markets through local licensees. It is important to note that IP owners can also use assignments to dictate the ownership of their IP rights. An assignment involves transferring all ownership rights of the IP to another party, making them the new owner.
IP rights have essentially transformed intangibles (knowledge, creativity) into valuable assets that you can put to strategic use in your business. You can do this by directly integrating the IP in the production or marketing of your products and services, thereby strengthening their competitiveness. Through a technology licensing agreement, a technology usually protected by patents and/or trade secrets (know-how) can be licensed to another business. The non-fungible token, known as the “NFT,” has risen to prominence in the digital assets market as a new asset class. They have since garnered attention from celebrities, artists, luxury brands, and video game companies as a novel way to monetize digital media.