L47 Warranties & Covenants


Most licences will begin with a range of warranties and covenants primarily by the licensor. These might include terms to the effect that :
  • the licensor owns the IP concerned and is able to grant a licence
  • the licensor is not aware of any invalidity or cause of invalidity in the IP
  • the licensor is not aware of any infringement or cause of invalidity in the IP
  • the licensor will pay any renewal fees and maintain the IP

Breach of these or similar warranties or covenants will result in breach of the agreement and the possibility of the agreement coming to an end. It is therefore important that more is not promised than can be relied on.

A further complication is that depending on the jurisdiction some such terms may well be implied especially where the law of the land is a civil code based system.