Business law
Licensing agreements for businesses
Licensing lets another business use an asset without necessarily transferring ownership. Makin Advisory can help you define that permission, protect the commercial value and plan what happens when the arrangement changes or ends.
Is this the help you need?
For owners licensing their brand, content, software or know-how, and businesses relying on licensed assets to supply customers.
How Makin Advisory can assist
Check the asset, ownership records and restrictions on rights you can grant.
Draft or review permitted users, channels, territory, duration and sublicensing.
Connect exclusivity with performance and agreed milestones.
Clarify royalty calculations, reporting and proportionate audit rights.
Address improvements, support, termination and customer transition.
What a review involves
Bring the licence, asset description, ownership or creator agreements, commercial proposal and any upstream licences. Explain who will use the asset, how revenue is earned and what support is expected. Review considers both the permission and whether the arrangement can operate in practice.
Discuss your licence agreement
Decisions worth getting right
Exclusivity can protect an investment but also lock an owner out of a market. Minimum performance, launch milestones and consequences of underperformance help balance those interests. The measures should fit the business, not simply impose a sales target on a development project.
Agree the royalty base before the rate. Returns, discounts, bundles, related-party transactions and currency can change the result. Improvements and exit also need deliberate decisions: owning an improvement may not give permission to use the underlying asset, and existing customers may need a limited transition rather than an abrupt shutdown.
Frequently asked questions
Is a licence the same as an assignment?
No. A licence concerns permission to use an asset; an assignment concerns transfer of ownership. The document should match the commercial result you want and any formal requirements relevant to the rights.
Should the licence be exclusive?
Only if that restriction serves the deal. Compare investment, territory and expected performance with the opportunities the owner gives up. Limited or non-exclusive permission may be more suitable.
Can we use a simple royalty percentage?
A percentage needs an agreed calculation base. Define deductions, bundles, reporting and payment dates, then test the wording against sample transactions.
Who owns improvements made during the licence?
Do not leave this to assumption. Distinguish pre-existing assets, independent developments and work produced during the relationship, then address ownership and any continuing permission each party needs.
What happens to customers when the licence ends?
Consider existing orders, stock, support, data and debranding. Any wind-down permission should specify scope and duration rather than become unrestricted future use.
What affects the cost of this work?
Fees depend on the agreed scope, complexity and document volume. Enquire with the documents available and your deadline so we can discuss the work required and its cost before you decide to proceed.
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Makin Advisory serves Gold Coast and Brisbane clients remotely and in person by appointment. Tell us what you need help with and any relevant deadline; prefer no sensitive documents at first enquiry.
Tell us what you need help with
Tell us briefly what you need help with and any relevant deadline. Please do not include sensitive documents in your initial enquiry.