Foreign Direct Investment in India
The rapid rise in foreign direct investment in India in the last few years has increased the need for obtaining licenses. The Indian Government has increased the FDI in many sectors to have a record inflow of over 80,000 million dollars in 2020-2021. As a result, it has made the foreign licensor get approval from the Government for chemical, defense, and other sectors. There are different forms of licensing in India, from brand licensing to service licenses essential for foreign companies to sell their products and service.
So,
please continue reading to know the various licenses in India and the laws that
govern them for bringing in more FDI or foreign
direct investment in India.
Why licensing
in India?
With many
foreign companies coming into India to tap the huge customer base in India,
they can get the license to sell their products and services. License is an
agreement by which the licensee leases its rights of intellectual property
protected legally to the licensor. Licensing in India is leasing copyrighted or
trademarked property to use in conjunction with a service or product. The
property includes name, logo, likeness, signature, saying, character, graphic,
or a combination of these elements.
What is
the different licensing in India?
For
businesses to sell products or services within the Indian jurisdiction, they
have to obtain different licenses depending on the nature of the business and
the extent of those licenses. A few notable licensing in India include.
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Software license agreements like master agreements,
end-user license agreements, etc
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Copyright & trademark license agreements
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Patent & research collaboration license
agreements
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Brand and services license
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Corporate brand and trademark licensing like Tata
and Starbucks
- ·
Cross-licensing agreements when owners of
intellectual property like Apple license rights to others
How is licensing in India?
The
licensing in India started during the British rule of India with many laws enacted Indian Contract Act in 1872 punishable under
the IPC or Indian Penal Code 1860. Hence any misrepresentations by the licensee
in transferring the clear title to the licensor violate the 1872 Act and are
punishable under IPC 1860. With foreign companies starting a business in India
have to register the grant of international licensing rights for patents with
the Indian Government governed by Section 69 of the Patent Act 1970. The Trade
Marks Act 1999 will enable the licensor to apply with the Registrar of
Trademarks to make the licensee the registered user.
As per a
report, the estimate for retail licensing
in India is 1.26 billion dollars. However, it is only
increasing in the last few years to have the best law firms for obtaining
licenses in India.
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