MIPLA Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association

Tuesday, February 27 2018, 11:30am - 12:45pm, at Somerset Inn of Troy

Many business agreements contain provisions that transfer or modify the parties’ rights in intellectual property assets. Common IP-related contracts include assignments, licenses, joint development agreements, nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements, and other commercial agreements. These instruments raise important issues because they are negotiated and performed at the intersection of multiple bodies of law. The interpretation and enforceability of a contractual provision affecting IP rights can be affected by substantive intellectual property law, general contract law principles, or rules from other areas of law, such as bankruptcy and freedom of expression. As a result, provisions in licenses and other contracts involving intellectual property rights sometimes prove to be unenforceable or are interpreted in ways that the parties did not expect.

This program will explore common provisions which are “all bark and no bite:” Parties may insert them into agreements affecting IP rights. But the provisions may have unforeseen consequences or, in some cases, may be unenforceable at all. “All bark” provisions can affect all forms of IP rights, including patents, copyrights, and trademarks, in a wide variety of agreements.

Cost – $25 members; $30 non-members
RSVP – To Joe Pytel (pytel@youngbasile.com) by February 22, 2018

Speaker(s): David Berry and Christopher Smith of Brooks Kushman

Topic(s): All Bark, No Bite: An analysis of IP contractual terms that are unenforceable or result in unintended consequences