For trainees and junior lawyers · English law

IP Licensing

A group sells one factory, and the buyer keeps using the group's brand, software and know-how under a licence. You act for the buyer.

How a buyer keeps using a seller’s brand, know-how and software, taught through one licence, clause by clause.

A pump on a factory test bench, drawn side-on like an engineer's drawing: the motor with its cooling fins, the coupling guard, the bearing bracket and the pump casing, its two pipe openings closed with blank flanges. On the casing an oval nameplate, blank, held by four screws, is outlined in copper: the brand on loan. A pressure gauge sits on the discharge pipe. A screwdriver stands propped against the casing, its shaft aimed straight at the nameplate's lower screw. Beside it an open box with a stack of new impellers showing above the rim, and one impeller lying on the bench. On the wall a two-year planner of twenty-four squares, the first eight months struck through and the last square ringed.

You will be able to:

  • Read an IP licence and say what each clause does
  • Explain what the licensor and the licensee each want, and why
  • Plan a rebrand and a software move against the licence’s deadlines

10 chapters with tests · a final exam · a certificate · about 3 hours in all · published 8 October 2026

Start Chapter 1

Chapters

Module 1

The Deal and the Grant

Module 2

The Brand

Module 3

Know-How and Software

Module 4

Limits, Money and the End

One case runs through every chapter: a pump maker sells one factory and lets it use the brand for two years. Read the full licence →

Glossary: every term in plain English · Final exam: 30 questions, open book