Trademark Cross-License Agreement

In patent law, a reciprocal licensing agreement is an agreement under which two or more parties grant each other a license to use the subject matter claimed in one or more of the patents each holds. [1] As a general rule, this type of agreement takes place between two parties to avoid a dispute or resolve an infringement dispute. [2] Very often, patents held by each party cover various essential aspects of a particular commercial product. Through mutual licensing, each party retains its freedom to place the commercial product on the market. The term “cross-licensing” implies that neither party pays financial royalties to the other party, although this may be the case. At Gagnon, Peacock & Vereeke, P.C., our intellectual property lawyers have years of experience protecting the intellectual property rights and interests of individuals and businesses in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Our legal team can help you create a cross-licensing agreement or other type of intellectual property agreement. When it comes to intellectual property, many companies find cross-licensing agreements incredibly beneficial. A cross-licensing agreement is a contractual agreement between two or more parties in which each party is granted rights to a technology, product, research or other subject matter.

Cross-licensing typically occurs between companies that hold patents for different aspects of the same product. By entering into an agreement, each company involved can avoid litigation over infringement disputes. If you think your Dallas/Fort Worth business could benefit from a cross-licensing agreement, we want to help you explore your options. Call the lawyers at Gagnon, Peacock & Vereeke, P.C., at (214) 824-1414 to speak with a qualified lawyer who can give you the advice and support you need today. In addition to the general benefits, some cross-licensing agreements are based on a royalty-free condition, so even more money can be saved. While the benefits far outweigh the costs, these agreements are legal contracts that companies enter into with their competitors. For this reason, companies considering such a type of contract should always consult a qualified lawyer to protect their own interests. For example, Microsoft and JVC entered into a mutual licensing agreement in January 2008. [3] Each party is therefore in a position to put into practice the inventions covered by the patents contained in the agreement. [4] This benefits competition by giving everyone more freedom to design products that fall under each other`s patents without causing patent infringement lawsuits.

Companies that choose to enter into cross-licensing agreements, sometimes referred to as patent pools, may enjoy a number of advantages: A cross-licensing agreement is a contract between two or more parties in which each party grants the other parties rights to their intellectual property. Cross-licensing agreements were often negotiated in antitrust law. The court will analyse cases involving cross-licensing agreements according to the common-sense rule, taking into account both the anti-competitive and pro-competitive effects of the agreement. In general, these agreements are pro-competitive. Other non-patented intellectual property rights, such as copyrights and trademarks, may also be cross-licensed. For example, a literary work and an anthology containing that literary work may be mutually licensed between two publishers. A cross-license for computer software may include a combination of patents, copyrights, and trademark licenses. Cross-licensing refers to the cross-licensing agreement between patent holders to avoid disputed patent litigation. It helps maintain financial incentives for inventors to commercialize their existing innovations and conduct potentially patentable new research.

Parties entering into cross-licensing agreements must be careful not to violate antitrust laws and regulations. This can easily become a complex issue concerning (as far as the European Union is concerned) Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), former Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty (abuse of a dominant position, etc.), licensing directives, cartels, etc. The economic literature has shown that capital-intensive companies are more likely to enter into a cross-licensing agreement. [7] Some companies file patent applications primarily to be able to license the resulting patents between them, rather than trying to prevent a competitor from bringing a product to market. [5] In the early 1990s, for example, Taiwanese manufacturers of original designs such as Hon Hai rapidly increased their patent applications after their U.S. competitors filed patent infringement lawsuits against them. [6] They used patents for mutual licenses. Unauthorized attempts to upload information and/or modify information on any part of this website are strictly prohibited and subject to prosecution under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996 (see 18 U.S.C. ยง 1001 and 1030). The e-mail address cannot be subscribed. Please try again.. .