But before you sign on the dotted line, consider the key provisions of software licence agreements described below.

Under New Zealand law, exclusive licensees have specific statutory rights in relation to infringement proceedings which sole or non-exclusive licensees do not enjoy. If you are licensing in or out of New Zealand, it is important to understand the difference, and the implications of each.

Repayable government grants are being offered to start-up technology companies to accelerate NZ innovation initiatives.

What do the Rugby World Cup and intellectual property lawyers have in common? The Major Events Management Act.

To understand how to maximise the value of intellectual property rights, it is first necessary to understand the factors that affect the value of those rights.

Discusses the increase in the number of Internet domain name endings.

Intellectual property is a significant business asset so you should consider how best to protect or to commercialise it.

The impact of the law on personal property securities on IP assignments, licences and other transactions involving IP assets.

This article poses and answers two common questions around IP infringement and protection in New Zealand.

Cookie Time Limited (CTL) is going into battle against a Chinese company attempting to hijack the Cookie Time logo.

A licensing agreement lets one business use intellectual property another business owns, without transferring ownership. Companies in the same group in New Zealand often share a brand or a system with nothing in writing. Each company remains a separate legal entity under the Companies Act 1993, regardless of who owns the shares. An undocumented arrangement gives the user no right it can prove and no right it can defend. That gap shows up when a shareholder falls out, an entity sells, or a liquidator arrives.

The article explains how to get the most out of your intellectual property strategies, even when budgets are tight.

Most entrepreneurs are aware that IP may be important to a business, but are not and cannot be aware of legal details.

Health service contracts are similar to other service contracts, but several clauses should be carefully considered.

Businesses need to maintain a competitive edge to give back far more than the original investment.

Business licensing technology be warned: there's no easy formula when it comes to royalties.

Plant variety rights cases are rare and the first case to consider infringement was decided in the High Court of New Zealand in September 2004, followed by an appeal to the Court of Appeal by the first and second defendants in 2005.

Whilst the concept of conducting an investigation into the material aspects of a commercial transaction is not new, such due diligence investigations often focus on the tangible assets and ignore or at least give insufficient weight to the intangible assets.

A licence is permission to do something that would, in the absence of permission, infringe intellectual property rights. It is different to an assignment, which is a transfer of ownership of the intellectual property.

IP issues can actually drive most strategic considerations, so an IP strategy should be aligned with business strategy. .