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KIRKLAND · E-2 FIELD GUIDE

What should the license evidence say about territory and online sales?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

It should accurately show the rights the U.S. company has obtained, including relevant restrictions, duration and conditions. Bring the executed agreement, schedules and amendments for commercial review. A website that can accept orders everywhere does not establish contractual permission to sell everywhere. Bring the schedules as well, since the operative restrictions usually live there rather than in the body of the agreement, and bring any side letter or email in which the licensor has agreed something the signed document does not say.

Make the forecast follow the actual grant

Compare each planned sales channel with the license terms and note any approval still required. If rights depend on a purchase quota, preserve the quota terms and the funding plan to meet them. Ask counsel to resolve ambiguous language before summarizing it in the immigration evidence.

Keep the commercial agreement and business plan consistent. Hypothetical example: an applicant obtains United States rights to a line of laboratory instruments and plans a calibration and service business around them. The signed agreement covers sales into two states and says nothing about servicing units bought elsewhere, while the business plan treats nationwide service revenue as the principal line.

She asks the licensor to confirm the servicing right in writing before anything is filed. If the answer is no, the plan changes while changing it is still cheap; if the answer is yes, the amendment becomes an exhibit. Either outcome beats a forecast resting on a right nobody granted.