Analysis of the Nature of the Licensing Agreement in Iranian and Egyptian Laws and Explanation of Its Juridical Bases

A licensing agreement is a legal contract between two parties, known as the licensor and the licensee. In a typical licensing agreement, the licensor grants the licensee the right to produce and sell goods, apply a brand name or trademark, or use patented technology owned by the licensor. This agreement is placed in Iranian law under article 10 of the Civil Code. To understand the effects of the agreement, it is necessary to know the common intention of the parties. In the event of a dispute, the parties can turn to the common and conventional practice in this regard and then to the intellectual property rights law and the licensing agreement and know-how. Based on Imamiyyah jurisprudence, the licensing agreement is not part of specific contracts. Thus, its legitimacy must be proved through the generalities of the rules concerning the fulfillment of contracts as well as some Quranic verses. The licensing agreement comes under lease in Egyptian law. So the obligations of the parties are understood through the joint intention of the two parties, and in the event of a dispute the parties are referred to Egyptian Commercial Code pertaining to the contract technology transfer.