Intellectual property license contract refers to the creditor's rights and debts agreement signed by the intellectual property owner on the license of his intellectual property to others. So what problems should we pay attention to when signing an intellectual property contract?

(1) Licensed intellectual property rights shall be valid.

Intellectual property rights have a statutory time limit, such as 20 years for invention patents and 10 years for trademarks. When the term expires, the intellectual property rights will be owned by the society, and anyone can no longer pay the royalties when using them. Therefore, when concluding an intellectual property licensing contract, we should first investigate the legal status of the licensed intellectual property; In addition, the validity of the contract should not exceed the protection period of rights. If the term of protection of rights exceeds the time limit, it may be agreed that the contract shall be terminated at the expiration of the time limit of rights.

(2) Licensor shall ensure that the intellectual property rights it licenses are flawless.

Licensor shall ensure that it is the legal owner of the licensed intellectual property or the person authorized by the owner to license others to use it. Therefore, the licensee must fully investigate the rights of the licensor before signing the contract. The ways to obtain evidence include: inquiring with the intellectual property authorities of relevant countries, learning from other licensees of the same subject matter, or requesting to consult the licensing contract previously concluded by the licensor on the subject matter, etc.

(3) Licensee may stipulate in the contract that Licensor shall provide relevant information and guidance.

Because the licensee has limited knowledge of the licensed intellectual property rights, it will encounter some problems in the implementation process. Therefore, in order to better achieve the purpose of the contract, the licensee may stipulate in the contract that the licensor shall deliver the technology and materials related to the implementation of intellectual property rights and provide necessary guidance.

(4) The licensing method of intellectual property rights shall be stipulated in the contract.

There are five kinds of intellectual property licensing: general licensing, exclusive licensing, exclusive licensing, cross licensing and sub-licensing. In view of the different licensing methods agreed in the contract, there are great differences in the distribution of rights and obligations between the two parties. Ordinary license is the most basic way. After the licensor licenses the intellectual property to the licensee, it can still exploit the intellectual property by itself or license it to a third party. When granting an exclusive license, Licensor shall not sublicense the intellectual property to a third party, but Licensor reserves the right to use the intellectual property. In the exclusive license, only the licensee can use the intellectual property rights, and the licensor cannot use them, nor can it license the third party to use them.