223. Australia is pleased to co-sponsor this paper and would like to thank the United States of America for its efforts in leading the drafting. This paper describes how licensing agreements can be a valuable pathway for owners of IP assets, whether they be individual inventors, artists, or businesses, to increase their markets and the revenue they can earn and in particular how licensing can be a valuable option for entities and individuals who may not have the resources or experience to develop or market their products and services.
224. Australia has laws, policies, and programmes to support creators, particularly small businesses, to explore opportunities for revenue generation, including through the licensing of patents, trademarks, copyright, and awareness-raising. For example, in the copyright space, we have a number of collective management organisations which collect and distribute royalties on behalf of copyright owners and that provide information, training and other resources to raise awareness of licensing as a tool for revenue generation. The arts law Australia's artist in the black programme provides free or low cost specialised legal advice, education, and resources to indigenous Australian artists nationally, including in licensing on IP rights.
225. We have found that selling and licensing IP continues to be a valuable pathway for small companies and individuals to earn a profit from innovation for example, rights holders can allocate IP rights to licensees that are best positioned to enforce those rights – which can reduce the need for legal action. IP Australia is currently undertaking research to assess whether there are developed markets for patents and trademarks in Australia this will inform our understanding of how policies that promote IP trade can complement traditional enforcement mechanisms.
226. We would be interested to understand how licensing is tracked in other Members' jurisdictions, and whether Members have seen changes in licensing behaviour over the years. We look forward to further exchanges with Members on their experiences of licensing IP in particular, on different licensing models and the benefits and drawbacks of each. We would also be interested in sharing experiences on the ways we can raise awareness of licensing as a tool for revenue generation for small businesses, inventors, and artists.
