Overview
Focus on creating intellectual property and let others handle the manufacturing. It's R&D as a business model.
Examples
Qualcomm
The Walt Disney Company
Adobe
ARM
Berkshire Hathaway
Ferrari
NVIDIA
Rolex
SpaceX
AMD
Anduril
Boeing
Formula One
Intel
Johnson & Johnson
Monsanto
Novo Nordisk
Oracle
Palantir
Rolls-Royce
Samsung
Sony
TSMC
ASML
Axon
British American Tobacco
Constellation Software
CrowdStrike
Dolby
DuPont
Electronic Arts
Epic Games
Epic Systems
Exor
Exxon Mobil
Fanatics
FICO
Games Workshop
GE Aerospace
Huawei
Intuitive Surgical
Lockheed Martin
Merck & Co
Moderna
Mojang
Moody's
Olympic Games (IOC)
Play-Doh (Hasbro)
Polaroid
Scale AI
Shutterstock
Take-Two Interactive
Universal Music Group
ViacomCBS (Paramount)
Zoho
Amadeus IT
Applied Materials
Argenx
Cadence
Databricks
Embraer
Gartner
Harvard Business Publishing
HEICO
London Stock Exchange GroupLSEG
MongoDB
Motorola Solutions
Novocure
Roper Technologies
Siemens Energy
Agilent
Amphenol
Entegris
Informa
InterDigital
Renishaw
Microsoft- Microsoft Windows operating system
- Qualcomm's mobile technology patents
- Disney's character licensing
- Adobe's software licensing
- ARM's chip design licensing
How to cite
Faster Than Normal. “Licensing Business Model.” fasterthannormal.co/business-models/licensing. Accessed 2026.
Continue exploring
Company
Qualcomm
Designs mobile phone chips (Snapdragon) and holds essential wireless technology patents (CDMA, 5G).
Company
The Walt Disney Company
Global entertainment conglomerate: theme parks, movies, streaming (Disney+), Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, ESPN.
Company
Adobe
Creative software giant: Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Acrobat.
Company
ARM
British semiconductor and software design company.