Licensing is a very effective way to enable multiple parties to make commercial use of intellectual property (IP) such as training materials, consultancy products, software and brands. A fee is paid to the owner.
What do you get when you buy a commercial licence*?
When you buy a licence you normally get more than just the basic permission to do something. You also obtain some level of capability. So, for example, if you are licensed to brew a drink you might expect to receive details of the recipe and a copy of any brand images. If you are licensed to use software you might expect to download the software from the internet or install it off a CD, and when you do so you might use a licence string which is a code that the licensor only issues to licensees.
Note that somewhere within the process the licensor and licensee will enter into a contractual agreement normally, for obvious reasons, called the licence agreement.
The licensor may also provide other things as part of the sale of the licence or as extras. These include such things as technical support. The licensor may also place restrictions on the licence such as restricting use to individuals who have been trained and certified by the licensor. In some case Certified Practitioners may be the only people allowed to deliver a particular licensed service or allowed to support a particular product.
