Trademark Licensing

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Trademark

Trademark licensing lets you turn your brand into revenue, and we draft license agreements that protect brand integrity, satisfy quality control rules, and spell out royalties so a deal does not quietly cost you your marks.

Trademark licensing can extend your brand into new products and markets and generate real revenue, but a sloppy license can also erode the very rights you are trying to monetize. We structure license agreements that make money for you while preserving the quality control trademark law requires. The result is a deal both sides understand and that keeps your marks strong.

Defining the Grant

Most licensing disputes trace back to a vague grant. We pin down exactly what the licensee gets: which marks, which products, which territories, which distribution channels, and whether the license is exclusive. Precise scope keeps your licensee in its lane, prevents fights down the road, and leaves room for you to license other partners without stepping on existing deals.

Keeping Quality Control

Trademark law requires you to keep meaningful control over the goods and services sold under your marks. Skip it, and a court can find you abandoned the mark through a naked license. We write quality control provisions that meet the legal standard and actually get used, with approval rights and inspection terms that protect your brand without burying your licensee in red tape that no one follows.

Royalties and Reporting

We negotiate the financial terms that fit your deal: royalty rates, guaranteed minimums, advances, and payment schedules. Just as important, we draft how royalties get calculated, what the licensee has to report, and your right to audit the numbers. Clear reporting and audit rights are how you make sure the royalty checks actually reflect what your brand is earning.

Running a Merchandising Program

Brand merchandising can open up apparel, accessories, and consumer products across many licensees at once. We structure programs that coordinate product categories and territories among multiple partners while holding everyone to consistent quality standards. That way you can scale a merchandising line without diluting the brand or letting one licensee undercut another.

Frequently asked questions

Trademark law requires the licensor to control the quality of the goods or services sold under the mark, because the whole point of a trademark is that customers can count on consistent quality. If you license your mark without exercising that control, you risk "naked licensing," which can mean losing the trademark entirely. Quality-control provisions in the license are how you keep both the brand and the rights intact.

Rates swing widely depending on the industry, the product category, and how strong the brand is, but they commonly land somewhere around 3 to 10 percent of net sales. Comparable licenses in your market are the best guide to a defensible number. We help you anchor the rate to real data rather than a round figure.

Build cure periods and termination rights into the license so a licensee who slips has a defined window to fix the problem before you can end the deal. Then actually monitor and enforce, because unenforced standards are the same as no standards and put your mark at risk. The contract only protects you if you use it.

Yes. An exclusive license grants sole rights within a defined scope, such as a product category or territory. Exclusivity usually commands a higher royalty and often comes with minimum performance requirements so the licensee cannot sit on the rights without using them.

Only if the license explicitly grants sublicensing rights, and licensors typically require approval over any sublicensee. Critically, your quality-control obligations have to follow the mark all the way down the chain, including to sublicensees. If they do not, you are back to naked-licensing risk.

The license needs to say exactly which marks are covered in which countries, address local registration of the mark, and comply with each country's law, which can differ on things like recordal and royalties. Vague territory definitions cause disputes later. We make the geographic and registration terms precise so there is no ambiguity about where the license applies.

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