What is the legal distinction between selling a product and licensing it?

Question

My Aunt is trying to find the answer for this for her homework for school, So if you could please help and give reference. Thanks

Answer 1

When you license it, you give somebody else the right to sell it. You may or may not give your "licensee" the right to "sublicense" the right to sell the product to others, thereby establishing what is called a "supply chain".

Oh - should additionally mention the difference between a license and a transfer or assignment. A license is limited in nature; a transfer or assignment is basically passing all your own rights in the product to another person or company.

Answer 2

You can apply for a patent through the US patent office, and that would give you the right to sell exclusively as an inventor.

You can "license" before being allowed to sell a product where registration is required (some industries are regulated).

Selling is just selling.

Answer 3

Selling a product means the person who buys it,owns it and you no longer have hold on it.

Licensing means the person paying the fee , gets to use the product, for SPECIFIC purposes under the conditions of the licensing agreement...The licensor still controls the product and is in fact the owner.

Answer 4

Licensing means tranferring some right, whether the right to use (such as a lease) or the intellectual property rights (the right to make copies and distribute, or to put your own brand on something manufactured by someone else and resell it).

Selling a product means transferring physical ownership of goods to someone else. Selling can also mean a permanent transfer of intellectual property rights, such as when you sell your rights in a composition to a music company.

Answer 5

licensing means you have legal rights to the product, selling it means you don't necessarily have legal rights to the product, and other could copy and sell the same product!