Legal Definitions - licensee

A licensee is a person or entity that has been granted limited rights or permissions by a licensor in the form of a license. This license enables the licensee to do something that would otherwise be legally prohibited. The rights granted to a licensee are limited by the authority of the licensor to confer such rights.

• Individuals with a driver's license
• Individuals licensed to practice medicine
• An individual granted a license by a landowner to store goods on the landowner's land
• Entities that have limited rights or permissions to use a patent, trademark, or other intellectual property owned by the licensor

For example, a person with a driver's license has been granted the limited right to operate a motor vehicle on public roads. An individual licensed to practice medicine has been granted the limited right to provide medical care to patients. An entity that has been granted a license to use a trademark can use that trademark in their business, but only within the limits set by the licensor.

In tort law, a licensee is distinguished from invitees and trespassers. Licensees are people who have received express or implied invitation to enter the owned property without a mutually beneficial commercial relationship to the owner. For example, social guests visiting a friend's house would be considered licensees under the common law. This is distinguished from invitees who usually enter the property for commercial or professional reasons, such as a person shopping at a grocery store.

The identification of licensees and the duty of care owed to licensees by owners varies by jurisdiction. For example, in Georgia, premises owners are liable to a licensee only for willful or wanton injury. In contrast, the Supreme Court of Idaho has held that landowners are required to share with a licensee knowledge of dangerous conditions or activities on the land.