Regulations last checked for updates: Nov 24, 2024

Title 15 - Commerce and Foreign Trade last revised: Oct 25, 2024
231.120 - 231.120 Technology licensing.

Technology licensing means:

(a) An express or implied contractual agreement in which the rights owned by, licensed to or otherwise lawfully available to one party in any trade secrets or knowhow are sold, licensed or otherwise made available to another party.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this section, the following is not technology licensing:

(1) Licensing of patents, including licenses related to standard essential patents or cross licensing activities;

(2) Licensing or transfer agreements conducted exclusively between a covered entity and related entities, or between or among related entities of the covered entity;

(3) A standards-related activity (as such term is defined in 15 CFR part 772);

(4) Agreements that grant patent rights only with respect to “published information” and no proprietary information is shared;

(5) An implied or general intellectual property license relating to the use of a product that is sold by a covered entity or related entities;

(6) Technology licensing related to a manufacturing process for an existing product solely to enable use of assembly, test, or packaging services for integrated circuits;

(7) Technology licensing involving two or more entities to establish or apply a drawing, design, or related specification for a product to be purchased and sold between or among such entities;

(8) Warranty, service, and customer support performed by a covered entity or an entity that is a related entity of a covered entity; and

(9) Disclosures of technical information to a customer solely for the design of integrated circuits to be manufactured by the funding recipient for that customer.

authority: 15 U.S.C. 4651,
source: 88 FR 61614, Sept. 25, 2023, unless otherwise noted.
cite as: 15 CFR 231.120