Legal Definitions - implied license by legal estoppel

An implied license by legal estoppel is a type of permission given to someone to use a property or intellectual property, even though the owner of the property has not expressly given permission. This type of license arises when the owner of the property has acted in a way that leads the other person to believe that they have permission to use the property. The license is implied because it is not explicitly stated, but rather inferred from the owner's actions.

For example, if a patent owner encourages someone to manufacture a product that infringes on their patent, they may be giving that person an implied license to use the patent. Another example is if a software company sells a product with a license agreement that allows the user to install the software on multiple computers, even though the license agreement does not explicitly state this. In both cases, the owner's actions have created an implied license by legal estoppel.