Does intellectual property patent differ in the world?

In the international context, a formal licensing agreement is possible only if the intellectual property right you wish to license is also protected in the other country or countries of interest to you. If your intellectual property is not protected in such other country or countries then you would not only not be able to license it, but also you would have no legal right to put any restriction on its use by anyone else. |6|

An example
Like other major technology providers, Microsoft routinely applies to governments around the world to obtain patents on their inventions. A patent establishes ownership of an invention, enabling the patent owner to benefit commercially from investments in innovation. A patent is granted if government patent examiners conclude that an invention is a true innovation compared with existing technology. Microsoft has been awarded thousands of United States patents, and their worldwide portfolio continues to grow.|7|

References
|6| http://www.wipo.int/sme/en/ip_business/licensing/licensing.htm
|7| http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/ip/