What is the difference between technology licensing and technology transfer? What is the role of patents in these cases?

What is the difference between technology licensing and technology transfer? What is the role of patents in these cases?

Technology licenses allow an organisation or person to make use of some technology that might be protected by a variety of intellectual property, including patents. It is primarily involved in the act of permitting a target organisation to do something with the permission of the grantor of the license. It can have an up-skilling function, but that is generally secondary to the licensing of the rights themselves.

Technology transfer is a broader concept that seeks to enable a target organisation to up-skill on a technology. It could involve a technology license as well (including patents), but its primary focus is to educate a target organisation in a technology to either get a product to market or to create an industry or an academic impetus.

Mark Warburton About the author

The Intellectual Property Guru. His determination to protect innovation stems from a family legacy in which his grandfather, a genius inventor, had his innovations stolen and patented by someone he trusted, which led to his grandfather dying a pauper on a park bench. Mark is an international award winning lawyer and patent attorney and 3-time published author. His prowess in the court room sees him winning cases that others thought were unwinnable. Mark’s passion for protecting intellectual property shines through in his pro-bono legal mentoring, proactive legal workshops and 1-2-1 work with clients.