Information AboutCross-licensing |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT CROSS-LICENSING | |
| strategic alliance | |
| patent law | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
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For instance, if company A owns a patent PA, if company B owns a patent PB, and if company A grants a license to company B for exploiting patent PA while at the same time company B grants a license to company A for exploiting patent PB, company A and company B are said to have concluded a cross-licensing agreement. This means company B can exploit the subject-matter claimed in patent PA and that will not constitute an Infringement . If a third party, let's call it company C, infringes patent PA, company A can sue company C for infringement. In most jurisdictions, in this case, the licensee, company B, can even become party to the Court proceedings and claimed damages from company C. To a large extent, cross-licensing agreements are legal, otherwise this could completely block the exploitation of a technology of which two or more Invention s are patented, but this can easily become a complex issue, involving (as far as the European Union is concerned) Art. 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty (abuse of dominant position, etc) as well as licensing directives, cartels, etc. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |