Intellectual property transfer refers to a legal act in which the rights holder transfers their intellectual property rights for a fee or free of charge. Due to the fact that intellectual property includes patent rights, trademark rights, copyright, and other forms of intellectual property law protection, according to the different types of intellectual property, intellectual property transfer includes four forms: patent transfer, trademark transfer, copyright transfer, and other forms of intellectual property transfer.

Intellectual property licensing is a legal act that authorizes others to use intellectual property within a certain period and scope without changing the ownership of the intellectual property, with the consent of the intellectual property owner. Specifically, depending on the scope of the authorized license, it can be divided into exclusive license, exclusive license, and general license; According to whether the authorization license is voluntary, it can be divided into voluntary license and non voluntary license, among which non voluntary license includes statutory license in copyright law and compulsory license in patent law; According to the different types of authorized rights, they can be divided into copyright license, patent license, trademark license, trade secret license, integrated circuit layout design exclusive right license, plant new variety right license, etc.

The transfer or licensing of intellectual property can maximize the exploration and utilization of intellectual property value, promote the implementation and transformation of intellectual property achievements, help activate intellectual property, avoid idleness, and whether from the perspective of utilization or maintenance, the business strategy of transferring or licensing others to use intellectual property has economic value. To a certain extent, it can open up competitive markets for intellectual property owners, bring considerable economic benefits, and is a necessary component of enterprise intellectual property strategy formulation.