Glossary

A

Audit of compliance programme: audits aiming at assessing the company in-house efficiency focusing on their licensing activity points of improvement within the scope of Audit offer

C

Commercial data: data generated by the company commercial activity (eg. Sales volume, Royalty rate application, territories,…)

Compliance programme: set of internal policies and procedures of a company to comply with legal requirements – at Infinite Value, we use within the scope of the compliance with licence contractual terms and the accuracy in the royalties reporting process

Contractual negotiation: focus on the operational and commercial side of negotiations aiming at finalising a clear term sheet. Contractual drafting remains under the specialised lawyers’ responsibility.

I

Industrial design: In a legal sense, an industrial design constitutes the ornamental aspect of an article. An industrial design may consist of three dimensional features, such as the shape of an article, or two dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or color. (Industrial Designs (wipo.int))

Industrialisation partner: licensee

Intangible asset: a resource that has no physical presence and has long-term value for a business. (What Is an Intangible Asset? A Simple Definition for Small Business (With Examples) (freshbooks.com))

Intellectual Property: Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce. (What is Intellectual Property? (wipo.int))

L

Licence Agreement: A contractual arrangement in which the licensor´s patents, trademarks, service marks, copyrights or know-how may be sold or otherwise made available to a licensee for compensation negotiated in advance between the parties. Such compensation may consist of a lump sum royalty, a running royalty (based on volume of production), or a combination of both. (What is License agreements? Definition and meaning (globalnegotiator.com))

Licence Management Outsourcing: the request of a company to entitle a third-party company to manage the day-to-day licence management of the company

Licensee: party of the licence agreement, who is allowed to commercially exploit the agreement

Licensing: Business model based on the use of licence agreement

Licensor: party of the licence agreement, owning the Intellectual Property, who grants to the licensee the right to commercially exploit the agreement

P

Patent: exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem. To get a patent, technical information about the invention must be disclosed to the public in a patent application. (Patents (wipo.int))

R

ROI: Return on investment

Royalties: an amount paid by a third party to an owner of a product or patent for the use of that product or patent. The royalty rate or the amount of the royalty is typically a percentage based on factors such as exclusivity of rights, technology, and the available alternatives. (Royalty Definition (investopedia.com))

Royalty audit: audits conducted by CPAs (Certified Public Accountants) at licensees to check their compliance with the contractual provisions and  the royalty calculation reported

T

Trademarks: sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises. Trademarks are protected by intellectual property rights. (Trademarks (wipo.int))