Operations manual for use in the Office of Licensing and Trademark Administration at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Abstract

I: This chapter has provided an overview of what product licensing is, why it is performed, and how institutions can profit from licensing activities. In performing licensing activities, a problem was identified stating that licensing activities require organization and structure in order to be effective. To alleviate this problem, the stated purpose of this project is to develop an operations manual for use in the Office of Licensing and Trademark Administration at Virginia Tech. Lastly, delimitations for this project were established which state that the proposed operations manual is being tailored for exclusive use by the Office of Licensing and Trademark Administration at Virginia Tech.

II: This chapter has provided a detailed review of the literature that exists on product licensing. The major components of the licensing process were identified and discussed in detail. An emphasis was placed on trademark administration, structure of the licensing agreement, and enforcement efforts. The information compiled from this review of literature will serve as the foundation for development of the proposed operations manual.

III: This chapter highlighted the procedures used to collect information about product licensing. The procedures used by the author include research conducted in the areas of trademark administration and product licensing, as well as experience obtained as an intern in the Office of Licensing and Trademark Administration at Virginia Tech. The author's past experience in the banking industry also served as a valuable asset in development of certain sections of the manual. The structure and layout of the proposed operations manual was presented along with a breakdown of the necessary operations required to effectively perform product licensing functions.