License Agreements

Nowadays, many organizations and individual entrepreneurs use a license agreement in financial and economic activities.

In the Republic of Belarus, a person who has an exclusive right to use an object of intellectual property (both the result of intellectual activity, which, for example, is a literary work or computer program, and means of individualization, such as a company name or, for example, a trademark) provides permission under a license agreement to another person to use the subject of intellectual property under conditions agreed upon in the agreement. While, the licence holder should make payments to the licensor in the amount agreed upon in the agreement and (or) carry out other actions established by the license agreement.

Types of license agreements:

•        License agreement with non-exclusive license terms. The agreement provides for a licensor to retain the right to grant licenses to other persons (Clause 2 of the Article 985 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus).

•        License agreement with exclusive license terms. Under such conditions, the licensor does not retain the right to grant a license to other persons (Clause 2 of the Article 985 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus).

Thus, if the copyright holder plans to transfer the rights to several people, at least two, five, or a hundred, it is necessary to conclude a license agreement on a non-exclusive license.

If the parties agree that the one side transfers the rights to the only one person and will not transfer them to anyone else, it is necessary to conclude license agreement on an exclusive license.

That is why, we recommend you to pay attention to the wording of the contract, otherwise it may turn out that one party may transfer the right to other companies, including competitors of the client. This is a violation of interests and expectations of the other party to the contract.

We also recommend you to remember that license agreements (most of them) are subjects that must be registered in the Republic of Belarus by the state body the “National Center of Intellectual Property”.

In addition, we draw your attention to the fact that depending on the type and conditions of a particular relationship, it may be necessary to provide for different nuances:

For example, a license agreement that permits the licensee to use the company name requires envisage and compliance with measures that preclude the misleading of the consumer of goods or services (clause 2 of Art. 1016 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus).

Proper execution of a license agreement is not a complicated procedure for a specialist with the necessary experience in the field of intellectual property. Patent attorneys and lawyers of the Beliaevs & Partners patent law group of companies provide legal services to conclude agreements related to intellectual property, including license agreements.