Question : Lotus Notes Licensing - Buy new version, use old version?

I have a client that is using 7.04 (With a custom mail file template) and he is leaving the organization he is with.  He wants to be legit and buy a license for Notes and continue to use it.  So the question is this, can my client buy Notes 8.5.1 and continue to use 7.0.4?

He would being using POP and IMAP.

Please provide a link to IBM documentation that supports your answer (if your answer is yes)

Thanks,

Answer : Lotus Notes Licensing - Buy new version, use old version?

When in doubt, ask IBM. Many people have often complained about the licensing of Notes and Domino, much has been improved over the years, but there are still dark areas that only IBM can inform about. AFAIK a Notes licence is all about the core of the application, the Notes client, and not about the databases you use. How else can they boast about R4 databases (1998 or so) that can still be opened in R8.5 ? But I'm not a licensed expert, so I can't give you a definitive answer...