Legal Definitions - exclusive license

An exclusive license is an agreement between a licensor and a licensee that allows the licensee to use and profit from the licensor's intellectual property for a specific period of time. The licensor agrees not to share the property with anyone else during this time.

For example, if an author grants an exclusive license to a publisher to publish and distribute their book, the publisher has the sole right to sell and distribute the book during the agreed-upon period. The author cannot grant the same rights to another publisher during this time.

Another example is a company that owns a trademark for a popular brand. They may grant an exclusive license to a specific retailer to sell products with that brand name. This gives the retailer the ability to profit off of the brand while preventing other retailers from using the same name.

Overall, an exclusive license allows the licensee to have exclusive rights to use and profit from the intellectual property, while the licensor retains ownership and control over the property.