2026 Licensing Update: Trademark Licensing

In Chapter 3 of the 2026 Trademark Licensing Update, Finnegan attorneys Brett Heavner, Yinfei Wu, and Kevin Lam examine the 2025 decisions shaping how brand owners license their marks. Licensing allows a trademark owner authorize others to make, sell, or distribute goods under its mark, expanding the brand's reach and the goodwill behind it. That value depends on a license that is clearly drafted and backed by genuine quality control. In 2025, the Ninth and Eleventh Circuits, along with district courts in Ohio, Virginia, Nevada, California, and Delaware, put those principles to the test. They addressed naked licensing, holdover licensees, required parties to join, use and priority, the first-sale doctrine, and perpetual licenses. In a dispute over Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, the Ninth Circuit rejected a naked-licensing defense because no trademark license had ever been granted. Other courts enjoined former franchisees who kept using marks after their rights ended. In a separate case, the Eleventh Circuit denied a holdover distributor the protection of the first-sale defense. One licensor that actively controlled quality was found to own its mark even though its licensee made every sale. The chapter closes with a caution about perpetual licenses, where a broad grant and a missed notice-and-cure provision cost a licensor its claims. Together, these decisions show that clarity, precision, and active oversight remain the foundation of a strong licensing program.

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