IP Licensing Deals
Taking Time to “Date” Before Pursuing an IP Acquisition “Marriage”
Lately many of my technology clients have been negotiating deals involving the purchase or sale intellectual property, so this Forbes story on choosing the right acquisition partner caught my attention. The author carried an interesting analogy about dating through the piece, and listed a number of considerations that a business should have before pursuing either…
Read MorePitfalls in Negotiating and Drafting Exclusive Licensing Deals: Lessons from Macy’s Dispute with JcPenney’s Over its Martha Stewart Product Line
When a new client contacts me for assistance in negotiating a licensing deal, the client almost always informs me that the deal is going to be an exclusive licensing arrangement. However, when I engage the client further to tell me more about the proposed exclusivity deal, in most cases the proposed terms on the table…
Read MorePayPal Launches New Internet Controversy over Decision to Censor Erotica Content Sold through Platform
PayPal has set off a new controversy on the Internet by advising e-book sellers that they must remove all erotica content off their websites or PayPal will stop doing business with them. In particular, PayPal is apparently concerned with content dealing with erotica fiction containing rape, incest, and bestiality, reported Technolog on MSNBC’s website. According…
Read MoreSeventh Circuit Court of Appeals Issues Ruling Which Affirms Rights in an Exclusive License to Joint Intellectual Property
I just spent about five hours on the phone with multiple clients over the last few weeks explaining to them the ins and outs of exclusively licensing joint intellectual property, so I was pleased to see the decision of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation v. Xenon Pharmaceuticals, Appeal…
Read MoreCollaborating Can Create Legal Headaches if the Appropriate IP Agreements Are Not in Place
If you run a small business, you have probably given some thought over this recession to how you might be able to collaborate with other businesses to generate some additional revenue for your business. I know that this is definitely something that I have been thinking about for my practice, and it is something that…
Read MoreAnticipating Likely Copyright Battle, Amazon Backs Down Over Kindle 2 Audio Feature
Anticipating a likely copyright battle over its new Kindle 2 audio feature, Amazon has backed down on its previous position and announced that publishers and authors will be able to decide whether to enable the feature. The Author’s Guild first signaled that a fight was brewing when it issued a February 12th alert over the…
Read MoreCutting Legal Costs by Investing in Good Templates
In a recent blog post, AdamsDrafting suggested that the recession should prompt companies to look at overhauling their contract template process. AdamsDrafting wrote A recession should provide a greater incentive for a company to do something about the considerable amounts of time and money that it’s wasting due to its mediocre templates and primitive contract…
Read MoreLicense Grant Language: How Should it be Drafted?
Ken Adams at Adams Drafting raised an interesting question about the proper drafting of a license grant in a software license. In particular, Adams questions the drafting of the following clause: Acme hereby grants Widgetco a nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, fully paid-up, worldwide license to the Software (that license, the “License“). I agree with Adams…
Read MoreBlogosphere Reacts to Associated Press Assault on Fair Use Doctrine
Should the Associated Press have the right to set its own standards as to how much quoting from an Associated Press article constitutes fair use and how much requires the payment of a royalty? The Associated Press (“A.P.”) apparently thinks so, based on recent coverage of its plans to adopt blogging guidelines for quoting A.P.…
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