LICENSING (see also Definitions)

What we are seeking in Licensees is a willingness to promote these improved products, to work with us and properly use our trademarks, and an ability to use this IP.

Benefit cycle: as Licensees promote the product, customer recognition will engage so that the product then promotes Licensees.

Licenses generally allow Licensees to make, commission, use, and sell. Though not shown in the table, the retail consumer or the employee actually using bags is the driver for the market shift. Consumers drive retailers to stock the Licensed product. Employees using bags drive employers to supply bags that don't waste their time.

Patents are a powerful product differentiator, and a means of excluding un-Licensed competitors. It is important to realise that a patent protects market, not manufacture. That means there is no point looking for a manufacturer in a country that has no patent laws, or is not a signatory to the Paris Convention, or in which the patent has not been filed, and to import the product to a country in which the intellectual property laws are observed and in which the patent is in effect. The product would continue to be illegal. SFT could move to have it seized, or authorise a Licensee to so move on its behalf.

	MANUFACTURER	SUPPLIER/ DISTRIBUTOR	MAJOR USER	END USER (CONSUMER or EMPLOYEE)
license allows	make & sell	commission & sell	commission and use	n/a
practical advantage	fewer product returns; more customers	fewer product returns; more customers	saved time/wages reduced bag waste improved workflow better hygiene	less frustration easier work fewer wasted bags saved time no spitting needed
strategic advantage	defend market, gain market (in response to latent customer demand)	defend market, gain market (in response to customer demand)	increased competitiveness	improved satisfaction with work/task

Branded products are welcome, and whilst the License will require that our branding must appear on printed packaging or on printed products etc., your brand can dominate. Inclusion of our brand is intended to bring benefits to Licensees in general by helping attract customers' eye to the brand that carries our logo as an assurance of reliable-ease-of-use™, and that will help buyers identify your product.

SFT is just as happy to work with small companies, because we believe the product improvements will drive the market toward Licensees, so our initially 'small' Licensees grow into 'large' Licensees. (See model of Licensee growth.)

It is necessary for anyone contemplating infringement to think the matter through, as this could be extremely damaging for your company.

Infringement, Unilateral licenses

Infringement is broadly speaking the use of IP without the appropriate License or permission from the owner.

SFT may at its option and in its sole discretion deem an infringer to be a unilateral Licensee, bound by SFT's License terms, royalties, and penalties, all of which may differ substantially from the terms of bilateral or negotiated Licenses. SFT may terminate, limit, or revoke Unilateral Licenses.

SFT may at its option approve, revokably, the implicit Unilateral License whereby a manufacturer or supplier or any seller has engaged in selling products that use SFT IP without a License specifically approved by SFT, and SFT at its option and in its sole discretion may or may not upgrade that License to a bilateral License. SFT will enforce Unilateral Licenses. Unilateral Licenses will typically feature higher royalty costs that may vary from place to place and time to time based on SFT's existing Licensee responses, SFT's own plans and priorities, and in all cases at SFT's own sole discretion.

What to do if you think YOU may be infringing?

Contact us. Unilateral Licensees who contact us at their earliest opportunity, and before we contact them, may gain with us a degree of respect for presumed good faith. That will smooth their transition to a bilateral License if approved by SFT.

The least advisable course for an infringer on realising that they have been infringing would be to ignore the issue. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that some infringers will take precisely this unwise course.

A patent gives clear rights and is property in the legal sense of the word, therefore infringement is a species of theft and can be so treated. For example, product can be seized, injunctions can be sought, charges laid.

The best course for an infringer would be to immediately notify us, settle the account, bring it up to date, and negotiate toward a bilateral License, which has terms designed to ensure the Licensee's success.

What to do if you see infringement?

Report it to us. We will quickly advise you if it is a file we know about already. Our policy is to reply to all. If you don't hear from us within 48 h, contact us again. If it is infringement and yours was the first report to us, make sure we know who you are and who your favourite charity is so that after we settle the matter we can send a reward from the recovered damages/billings.