A license agreement can potentially be an attractive way for a foreign corporation to market its products in the US market. However, all license agreements are subject to US antitrust and IP laws and regulations. The US patent and trademark system is well developed but the application process for trademarks, patents and copyright protection is costly (although the costs in the EU are three to five times higher) and time-consuming.
There are three types of intellectual property protection: Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights, each of which serve different purposes. Click on the links below to learn more about each topic.
- Patents protect inventions, and improvements to existing inventions.
- Trademarks include any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. Service marks include any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce, to identify and distinguish the services of one provider from services provided by others, and to indicate the source of the services.
Copyright protect literary, artistic, and musical works.