Without contracts defining the ownership of an invention, an inventor e. Without contracts that define who can file and own brands, an employee or a contractor could register and become the owner of a trademark before you do.

Unless license contracts specify the expected quality and scope, your licensed partners manufacturers, licensees, franchisees could use your trademark in ways that may damage its value. Without legal ownership or rights under a license agreement, you may not be able to use the material even if you have paid the person who authored it.

Moral rights protect the integrity of the work so it can stay free from modification and the right to be or not to be named as the author of the work. If moral rights are not waived, you may be unable to modify the material and be obliged to name the author of the work for each copy. While recording the trade secret may prove your ownership, the value of a trade secret can be lost when the trade secret is shared.

Seeking compensation when someone has breached a confidentiality agreement can be hard. You may need to prove that measures were taken to secure the confidentiality of the trade secret information. Consider the effects of engaging in open innovation on your ownership of any resulting IP. Open innovation policies usually mean that employees and partners are encouraged to share ideas early on in the development stage.

In the modern economy, intellectual property is often much more valuable than conventional assets. Many great startups and businesses are built entirely upon intangibles and intellectual property. Intellectual property protection allows these companies and businesses to benefit from their work or their investments in their ideas and creations.

While notions of protecting tangible property have existed in some form since the beginning of recorded human history, protection of intellectual property, however, is a relatively recent invention. Nonetheless, today intellectual property has become critically important and worth protecting.

Human progress and advancement depend on our capacity to create and invent new works in the areas of technology and culture. Intellectual property protection incentivizes innovation by guaranteeing originators and creators the ability to benefit from their hard work. New industries created through innovation of novel ideas and concepts, in turn, create jobs. A healthy, dynamic economy is essential for social and public wellbeing.

To protect creators, owners, and investors, it is important to determine ownership of intellectual property. Ownership allocation is especially necessary for establishing business relationships with clients, vendors, distributors, and other third-parties that are important for a business to succeed.

Even without an agreement or a contract in place, ownership of certain intellectual property rights can be determined by common law precedent. Ownership of intellectual property can be owned by one entity, typically the creator, in the form of Sole Ownership. One or more creators can also own ownership of intellectual property through Joint Ownership.

What is a copyright? Generally speaking, the creator or originator of an idea, work, or novel invention is presumed to own the copyright to their creations. However, if the work was created as a part of a work-made-for-hire agreement, or in an employer-employee agreement, the copyright belongs to the employer. On the other hand, contractors and not the party that employs them retain ownership of the copyright of the works they create unless there's an agreement in place to assign the works to the employing party.

What is a patent? Like a copyright, the creator or originator of an idea, work, or novel invention is presumed to own the patent to their creations. In the United States, an inventor or multiple inventors must apply for a patent. Ownership can then be assigned to a corporate entity afterward. Patent ownership can also be transferred to assignees and successors who then become proprietors of the patent. This makes patents a liquid property.

Patents are often sold by inventors to third parties, who then become proprietors of the patent and can exclude others from exploiting such inventions. What is a trade secret? Similar to copyright and patent ownership, a trade secret is generally owned by the creator or creators, if they are employees, the trade secret is owned by the employer.

If you would like to learn more about the intellectual property which you may have in your business, or would like to explore how your intellectual property can be protected, then please contact Ian Lindley or Victoria Jessup to see how we can help you.

We can help you register IP rights and provide advice on how best to protect your copyright and other unregistered rights. We can also help you with licensing your IP rights. Download beginner's guide to intellectual property as a PDF. The content of this webpage is for information only and is not intended to be construed as legal advice and should not be treated as a substitute for specific advice.

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Are your ideas and intellectual property protected? To share this article:. Copyright Copyright law protects the expression of an idea, including literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works; and sound recordings, films, broadcasts and typographical arrangements. Patent A patent protects inventions , for example: mechanical devices, pharmaceutical products, methods for doing things and mixtures of compounds. A patent arises only by registration and must be: new inventions must be kept secret or a patent application will fail ; involve an inventive step; and be capable of industrial application.

Designs There are two types of protection for designs, registered design and unregistered design rights.