IP SPOTLIGHT JULY 7

As a startup, you have probably got a lot on your to-do list, from completing your MVP to refining your business model and planning your strategy. So where does intellectual property (IP) fit in to all of this? Do I have time? Do I have the budget? And why should I make IP a priority over all the other important stuff I have to do? These next three tips are some of the most common pieces of advice we routinely give to our startup clients each day. If followed, they can save you and your business from being distracted, giving you more invaluable time to focus on the things that are important and generate real value. KEEP I NG I T CONF I DENT I AL One of the very first things you want to do with your new idea is to shout it to the world! After all, you’re proud of it, right? And you know deep down inside that a “common sense” check with your friend, family member or work colleague will give you a healthy dose of reality you need. Then, you need to discuss your idea with a developer be it an engineering company, or software development company. Now enter from stage left the Confidentiality Agreement (or Non-Disclosure Agreement as it’s also called). The reasons you want your discussions about your idea to be treated confidentially are many fold, but these two are the most important: – – You don’t want someone else to run off into the sunset with your idea – – You don’t want to inadvertently destroy your ability to get a patent These two things can happen if you don’t ensure your discussions are treated and kept confidential. So always consider entering into an NDA with anyone with whom you will be discussing your idea. Signing a formal document like an NDA also sets the tone of the relationship. It lets the recipient know that you consider your confidential information to be valuable and that it should be treated differently to other information.

People always ask me, what’s the value of an NDA? Is it worth the paper it’s printed on?

In the case of a dispute about confidential information, it is almost always better to have it in writing. It gives the recipient party a lot less wiggle room if your NDA sets out clear expectations for how confidential information will be treated and managed and precisely defines what your “confidential information” actually is. OWN WHAT YOU PAY FOR Did you know that, generally speaking in Australia , if you pay a contractor to create a design or code a piece of software for you, the first owner of the IP in that creation is the contractor and not the person who paid for it? The solution is quite simple: get ownership of IP confirmed in writing. If you need to own that particular piece of IP make sure you have a written agreement clearly stating that you own the intellectual property in what has been created. This is called an assignment. For a software app it might be the source code, the logo, icons, graphics, text and the even the wireframe. For a new device, it might be engineering drawings and even the engineer’s own “inventive contribution” towards the device – this is especially important if your idea is not fully formed and you are outsourcing some of the “inventing” to your contractor. The other thing to remember is that you don’t need to own it all – sometimes you just need sufficient permission to use the IP or parts of it. This is called a licence and merits a separate article of its own! BE AWARE OF WHO ELSE I S OUT THERE IP is literally all around us. The Apple iPhone consists of hundreds of different IP rights: patents for inventive aspects of its functionality, designs protecting how it looks, trade marks protecting the brand and copyright protecting the software code. Many of these rights are registrable, and so publicly accessibly IP registries all around the world can tell you all sorts of interesting things about the monopolies (or exclusive fields) that these IP rights owners hold. Since straying into someone else’s exclusive field can lead to IP infringement, This default legal position takes many by surprise.

T H R E E I P T I P S T O W R I T E I N T O T H E O P E N I N G A C T O F Y O U R S T A R T U P J O U R N E Y

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