In my last article, we started to explore IP or Intellectual Property – what it is and why it’s so valuable. In this article, we are going to look at the ways that you can protect your creative assets that don’t involve registering ownership.
Confidentiality is the first major issue.
Regardless of your occupation, you have built up a wealth of expertise, know-how, trade secrets and processes. If you are working with other people on a contract basis or in a Joint Venture or partnership arrangement you need to take steps to protect that expertise. You don’t want to be in a position of disclosing your valuable IP to another party and discovering that they have disseminated your proprietary knowledge to an unintended audience or one of your competitors.
The easiest way to stop this situation occurring is to put a Confidentiality or Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in place with the other party from the outset. The contract places clear boundaries on the relationship and allows you to set down how your IP can or cannot be used.
You can look upon this type of agreement as basic housekeeping. It’s like locking your doors and windows when you leave home because you want to reduce your risk of being burgled. It might take a few extra minutes to walk out door but you know you have taken the necessary steps to protect your valuables.
A confidentiality agreement is even more important if the information you want to protect is not covered by copyright (or otherwise registered as a form of IP). This is because the automatic rights granted by copyright or on registration, will not apply to things such as ideas, techniques or information. In the event you are disclosing sensitive information of this sort, a confidentiality agreement is imperative.
If you are in the position of licensing or assigning IP, then there are other issues to consider.
If you licence your IP to someone, it means you are allowing that party to use your IP for a certain period, under certain terms for a set fee. The other party does not own your IP – they just get to use or “rent” it.
Just like any other contract, you need to be clear about the terms of your arrangement and take some time to kick about the what if’s? For example:
- What if the other party defaults, doesn’t pay the fee or uses the IP is a way contrary to the agreement- what happens then?
- How do you end the agreement if it’s not going well?
You can licence the use of your copyright material (things like computer programs and software, images, photographs, textual works such as articles and blogs, sound recordings, films, artworks, music, etc.) or non-copyright material (processes, patents, trademarks, designs).
The other option is to Assign IP, which is essentially transferring or selling your IP in exchange for a lump sum, royalties or shares.
We’ve created a list of the different types of agreements you can use to protect your IP – not all will suit but a few could be that vital deadlock on the front door that every business needs. The best thing is that they are available in template form which dramatically cuts your legal costs and simplifies implementation.
