Licensing
B52 A licence establishes a customer’s rights to the intellectual property of an entity.
Licences of intellectual property may include, but are not limited to, any of the
following:
(a) software and technology;
(b) motion pictures, music and other forms of media and entertainment;
(c) franchises; and
(d) patents, trademarks and copyrights.
B53 In addition to a promise to grant a licence to a customer, an entity may also
promise to transfer other goods or services to the customer. Those promises may
be explicitly stated in the contract or implied by an entity’s customary business
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practices, published policies or specific statements (see paragraph 24). As with
other types of contracts, when a contract with a customer includes a promise to
grant a licence in addition to other promised goods or services, an entity applies
paragraphs 22–30 to identify each of the performance obligations in the
contract.
B54 If the promise to grant a licence is not distinct from other promised goods or
services in the contract in accordance with paragraphs 26–30, an entity shall
account for the promise to grant a licence and those other promised goods or
services together as a single performance obligation. Examples of licences that
are not distinct from other goods or services promised in the contract include
the following:
(a) a licence that forms a component of a tangible good and that is integral
to the functionality of the good; and
(b) a licence that the customer can benefit from only in conjunction with a
related service (such as an online service provided by the entity that
enables, by granting a licence, the customer to access content).
B55 If the licence is not distinct, an entity shall apply paragraphs 31–38 to determine
whether the performance obligation (which includes the promised licence) is a
performance obligation that is satisfied over time or satisfied at a point in time.
B56 If the promise to grant the licence is distinct from the other promised goods or
services in the contract and, therefore, the promise to grant the licence is a
separate performance obligation, an entity shall determine whether the licence
transfers to a customer either at a point in time or over time. In making this
determination, an entity shall consider whether the nature of the entity’s
promise in granting the licence to a customer is to provide the customer with
either:
(a) a right to access the entity’s intellectual property as it exists throughout
the licence period; or
(b) a right to use the entity’s intellectual property as it exists at the point in
time at which the licence is granted.