Protecting a startup's intellectual property
- What is intellectual property for a startup?
- Why is it necessary to document your rights?
- What needs to be done to protect your rights?
- What difficulties can arise when opening a segregated account?
Protecting a startup's intellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) is the backbone of the business of any tech startup. Without it, the company will not be able to grow and develop, which means that it is necessary to pay due attention to the protection of its assets.
Startup IP takes many forms. The very first and most obvious asset is software. It is the software that underlies the product that the company offers. An equally important asset for a startup is the brand. This is the name of the company itself and its products, the corporate logo. In addition to the above, the objects of IP are recommendations, instructions, methods and everything that regulates the work of the company and helps the business to develop.
Why is it necessary to document your rights?
Intangible assets are of the same high value as other property. Thanks to IS, a startup is developing, attracting customers and investments in its business. Legalization of IP rights will help you defend your rights in the event of misuse of your product or litigation with third parties.
This is especially important if the company uses third-party developers to create the product and other IP. This primarily applies to software and branding. They are often created for a startup by people who act as contractors and are not employees of the company. According to the current legislation on the protection of intellectual property objects, any inventions belong to their direct creators. To rule out possible disagreements, the company must take care of the transfer of ownership. In this case, when patenting, a legal entity becomes the owner of the patent, and not the person who worked on the creation of the product. In foreign jurisprudence, it is far from uncommon for protracted proceedings between authors and companies that involved them in the work on the object. A similar situation is developing in our country in connection with the active development of startups.
What needs to be done to protect your rights?
The company must ensure that its rights to the results of intellectual and creative activity are spelled out in documents. For example, labor contracts need to include clauses according to which the owner of the IP, which is created in the course of work, is not an employee, but a legal entity. An agreement is signed with contractors and third-party consultants on the assignment of IP rights to any objects that they create for the needs of a startup. When working with contractors, draw up a technical assignment yourself so that all the requirements are clearly spelled out in it. Work with contractors ends with the signing of a bilateral certificate of acceptance and transfer of IP rights in favor of the customer of the product. Don't forget to pay in favor of the developer.
A very important point is the choice and registration of a trademark. Before using any name or logo, you need to make sure that they are unique. Otherwise, there are prerequisites for litigation with the company that already uses the specified name or logo. If, by a court decision, your company can no longer use a certain trademark, it will have to rebrand - a costly event that leads to the loss of some customers due to a deterioration in business reputation.
IP protection guidelines
The first thing to start with is signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). These agreements are signed by employees and partners who have access to confidential company data. We recommend that you avoid standard versions of such a contract. It is better to contact an A4 Law Firm lawyer who will draw up an NDA form according to your business. This rule applies not only to the NDA, but also to other documents. It is extremely imprudent to use ready-made templates, because each business is unique in its own way.
Practice shows that the leakage of important data in most cases occurs through employees who actively use social networks. The development of regulations on the regime of commercial secrets helps to avoid such a situation. Employees who have access to confidential data should be familiar with this provision. It should clearly state what information is not subject to public disclosure and what penalties await the violator.
Companies can use technical methods to protect intellectual property. They are aimed at improving the security of proprietary information and personal data of customers when collecting, storing and processing information. The software can be protected with escrow.
A4 Law Firm specialists will tell you in detail about the existing mechanisms of legal protection of IP objects and will help you choose the most suitable for your business.
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