Licensing is a marketing practice in which a trademark owner allows another entity to license their mark in exchange for royalties. Licensing controls are required because consumers rely on trademarks to determine the source of a product. They rely on them in making purchases, since they trust a company that places a certain mark on its products to meet the standards associated with the mark. Failing to monitor the use of a trademark results in the loss of the trademark's value in the marketplace. It no longer means anything about the products with which it is associated. This is sometimes known as the "abandonment" of a trademark.