Licensing & Distribution

Legal Advice on Licensing and Distribution

Arizona Business Law Attorneys

One of the first steps in building any new business-but particularly high-tech businesses and those developing creative and innovative new products-is to ensure you have clear legal ownership of your intellectual property. That involves copyright, trademark, and patent registrations.

Many license agreements actually are deemed at law to be franchise agreements, thus subject to an entire body of federal law. So any license agreement should be reviewed carefully.

Once your ownership is clear and you have the ability to protect it in court, if need be, you are free to maximize your profits with licensing and distribution agreements.

At The Law Offices of Donald W. Hudspeth, P.C., our intellectual property attorneys work with businesses at all stages of development, helping them secure and protect their intellectual property assets. Designers, developers, manufacturers, distributors-everyone along the product path from bright idea to delivery to the customer can benefit from legal protections.

Contact our Phoenix, Arizona law office to speak with an experienced business lawyer. Learn more about how you can safely bring your product to market, minimizing costs and maximizing reach through effective licensing and distribution agreements.

We can assist your company with:

• Business consulting to help you make wise decisions regarding licensing of your intellectual property
• Trademark and copyright registration
• Drafting of software licensing agreements
• Drafting of technology licensing agreements with manufacturers and distributors
• Courtroom representation in cases involving infringement of copyright and trademark and breach of contract cases involving designers, manufacturers, and distributors, both in the U.S. and overseas

Have You Unintentionally Become Subject to U.S. Franchise Laws?

U.S. franchise law can come into play when two parties enter into a licensing agreement. If the parties 1) license the use of a name 2) in exchange for a royalty while 3) maintaining independent ownership, a question can now be raised as to whether this agreement is in fact a franchise. Franchises are federally regulated and subject to financial disclosure requirements. Without proper planning, a business owner could find him or herself subject to prosecution for a securities violation

Licensing and Distribution Disputes

When you enter into a licensing or distribution agreement, you lose direct control over your idea, technology, or product. Your written contract becomes extremely important. The terms of your contract will define how your contract is interpreted, so you want to be certain your contract says what you believe it says.

One of the biggest challenges our firm has seen clients encounter is that of keeping manufacturers and distributor honest. We represent businesses in cases against manufacturers for reverse engineering, illegal duplication, and violation of patent, copyright or trademark.

Distributors using the name of your product but actually promoting a different product? Your distribution agreement gives you legal footing to take your case to court.

For more information or to schedule an appointment regarding patent, licensing and distribution agreements, please contact us.