Often litigation is the result of the failure of parties to enter into properly drafted licenses and other agreements clarifying the ownership of intellectual properly. Any use of ones Intellectual Property by others should be protected by a carefully drafted license agreement. In addition, employees should routinely sign inventorship/authorship agreements at an early stage. Copyrights and patents are initially owned by their authors or inventors, thus companies operating without such employee agreements place their intellectual property at risk.

Whenever a license permits manufacture or sale in a foreign country, it is important to consider patent or trademark registrations in that country. Additionally, when negotiating where goods may be manufactured, licensors often rely upon advice of counsel as to which countries have reliably enforced intellectual property laws, and which are invitations to counterfeiting.