ABSTRACT
This chapter is about what a licence is in law and what from a commercial point of view its advantages and disadvantages are in comparison with other common forms of the exploitation of intellectual property right. It looks at licensing both from the point of view of the potential licensor and from the point of view of the potential licensee. It is not about the terms of a licence, about the peculiarities of the various types of licence which are commonly contracted, about the preparation and negotiation of a licence, selection of the right licensing partner and so on. These matters will be considered separately in later chapters.
