SANJIESAN LICENSING / Scope questions
Exclusive in what way? Unpack the request before discussing it
IP Australia describes several licence types and explains that exclusivity can have limits. In an early business conversation, the useful task is to identify what the team means by its request. A single word on a slide does not tell a reviewer which uses, products or places the proposal is asking about.
Describe the concern behind the request
Ask what practical concern prompted the request. Is the team worried about a very similar item in the same retail setting, or is it seeking a much broader relationship? Write that concern without promising a restriction that has not been agreed. The answer helps the parties understand the discussion; it does not determine what either side should accept or how a contract term would be interpreted.
Prepare a concrete scope illustration
Create a discussion sheet with the selected property, proposed object family and intended market, marking every unconfirmed part as open. Use a hypothetical example only when it is clearly labelled as such. Put excluded or undecided activities in a separate area instead of making the diagram look complete. A visual boundary can reveal that two colleagues have been using the same label for quite different requests.
Take questions into the actual review
Have the relevant commercial and legal reviewers assess the request against the real proposal. Preserve their answer and its supporting document reference in the controlled project record. Keep public wording narrower than unresolved internal ambitions. If a scope question remains open, a partner deck should say that the arrangement is under discussion rather than presenting a broad exclusive partnership as an established fact.