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ARTICLE · 10 NOVEMBER 2004

Do’s And Don’ts Of IT Licensing — Top 10 Tips

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
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What are the risks, issues and contractual terms to be aware of for technology license agreements? To create effective licenses for both licensors and licensees, it is important to have an understanding of the common legal and business issues that arise in negotiating licenses by following these "Top 10" tips. Software, Web sites, e-commerce transactions and information technology generally can involve many different forms of intellectual property (IP).

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This article was originally published in Blakes Bulletin on Information Technology - November 2004

What are the risks, issues and contractual terms to be aware of for technology license agreements? To create effective licenses for both licensors and licensees, it is important to have an understanding of the common legal and business issues that arise in negotiating licenses by following these "Top 10" tips. Software, Web sites, e-commerce transactions and information technology generally can involve many different forms of intellectual property (IP). On a Web site, for example, copyrights can exist in software, content, multimedia and databases. Patent rights may exist in processes used in software, Web sites and e-commerce. And, trade-mark rights may exist in software product names, domain names, hyperlinks that reflect business or product names, logos, word designs or even sounds used to distinguish goods or services.

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