IP Licensing & Commercial
Making your intellectual property earn
Licences, assignments, technology transfer and franchise arrangements, drafted so the scope, the money and the exit are clear before anyone signs.
Free 15-minute consultation. Your idea is confidential from the very first hello, protected whether or not you go on to instruct us.
What's included
Everything your ip licensing & commercial needs
An IP deal is usually simple to agree in principle and difficult to write well. We spend our time on the parts that cause disputes later, scope, territory, term, improvements, quality control and termination.
Licence & assignment agreements
We draft and negotiate licences and assignments across patents, trade marks, designs and copyright, define the field of use, territory and exclusivity precisely, and record the transaction with the relevant registry where the statute provides for it.
Technology transfer & franchising
We paper technology transfer and franchise arrangements, covering know-how and confidentiality, training and support, quality control over branded use, and the regulatory and cross-border considerations that come with payments abroad.
Royalty & commercial structuring
We structure the commercial terms, lump sums, running royalties, minimum guarantees, milestones and audit rights, and set out reporting obligations so you can actually verify what you are owed.
IP due diligence & audits
We run IP due diligence for investment, acquisition and partnership, and portfolio audits that show what you own, what you merely use, where chain of title is broken and where renewals or assignments are outstanding.
Simple, transparent, fast
How it works
- 01
Understand the deal
In a free, confidential consultation we look at the IP, the counterparty and what each side actually needs from the arrangement.
- 02
Check the foundations
We verify ownership, registration status and chain of title, and flag any encumbrance or prior grant that would limit what you can license.
- 03
Draft & negotiate
We prepare the agreement and the commercial schedule, negotiate with the other side, and give you a clear, fixed-fee plan up front.
- 04
Record & manage
We record assignments and licences where required, diarise renewals and reporting dates, and act if the agreement is breached.
Why Soni & Soni
Authority you can rely on, a process you can see.
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Commercial drafting, not boilerplate
Every licence is written to the technology and the business model in front of us, with the improvement and termination clauses that specific deal needs.
Prosecution experience behind the paper
The people drafting the licence also file and prosecute the underlying rights, so the scope of the grant matches the scope of the claims.
Cross-border capability
We coordinate filings and rights across 200+ jurisdictions, which matters when a licence territory runs wider than India.
Diligence that finds the gaps
Audits regularly turn up unassigned contractor work, unrecorded transfers and lapsed registrations. Better to find them before a buyer does.
Talk to an attorney
Have a licence, transfer or investment on the table?
Send us the outline of the deal and a specialist will come back with the points worth negotiating and a clear plan, confidentially, at no cost for the first conversation.
Free 15-minute consultation. Your idea is confidential from the very first hello, protected whether or not you go on to instruct us.
IP Licensing & Commercial, your questions, answered
What is the difference between a licence and an assignment?
An assignment transfers ownership of the right to someone else. A licence keeps ownership with you and permits the other party to use the right on agreed terms. Which one suits you depends on whether you want to keep control and a continuing revenue stream, or realise value now.
Does a licence or assignment have to be in writing?
Yes, in practice it should always be. An assignment of copyright must be in writing and signed, and assignments of patents and trade marks are dealt with through written instruments and registry recordal. Oral arrangements are a common source of disputes we are later asked to untangle.
Should a licence be recorded with the registry?
Where the statute provides for recordal, it is usually worth doing. Recording an assignment or a registered user or licence entry puts the position on the public record and avoids arguments about title later, particularly on a sale or an enforcement action.
How are royalties usually structured?
Common structures include an upfront lump sum, a running royalty on net sales, minimum annual guarantees, milestone payments, or a combination. The right structure depends on the maturity of the technology and how much risk each side is taking. We also build in reporting and audit rights so the numbers can be checked.
What does IP due diligence involve?
We verify what IP exists, who owns it, whether registrations are live and renewals current, whether employee and contractor work has been properly assigned, what licences and encumbrances are in place, and whether there is any live or threatened dispute. The output is a schedule of the portfolio and a list of issues to fix or price in.
Do we need a separate agreement for know-how and confidential information?
Often yes. Know-how is not protected by registration, so it depends on contract and confidentiality. In technology transfer we usually deal with the registered rights and the know-how in the same transaction but with clauses tailored to each.
Let's protect what you've built.
Book your free, confidential consultation to talk through licensing, assignment or an IP audit.