Three Ways to Protect Yourself when Developing Software Offshore

Many startups have software developed offshore to save money. There is good reason to be concerned, however, about loss of money or, even worse, loss of intellectual property when a developer is located half-way around the world. This post discusses ways to minimize those concerns.

I recommend the following:

1. Ensure that the agreement with your overseas developer assigns all rights to the software (including all intellectual property rights) to you.
2. Don’t send your “family jewels” offshore. For any portion of the development that requires disclosure of your most important trade secrets, use a local developer.
3. Time deliverables and payments such that you never will be too severely financially exposed. If your relationship with the developer sours, you can go somewhere else without a catastrophic financial loss.

If you take care of these three points properly, everything else should be pretty routine.

Photo credit: Rajesh Sundaram via stock.xchng

Dana H. Shultz, Attorney at Law  +1 510 547-0545  dana [at] danashultz [dot] com
This blog does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice, please contact a lawyer directly.