Protect Your IP when You Hire a Freelancer
This post explains how to make sure that you own work product and intellectual property (IP) when you use a freelancer service. Most of the following first appeared on Quora. Please see How can I protect my source code and its Intellectual Property Right while working with a very large team of remote freelancers (Upwork and Fiverr etc)? Are freelancing platforms ensuring IP protection?
When you use a freelancing platform, you need to ensure that you have an agreement with each freelancer. And that agreement must assign to you all work product and all intellectual property rights.
(more…)Ten Tips for Success in the U.S.
Having helped more than a dozen foreign companies set up operations here during the past few years, I am pleased to offer “Ten Tips for Success in the U.S.” on the Downloads page – just Sign Up for Free Downloads using the drop-down list in the sidebar.
Here are the titles of the ten tips, which are discussed in greater detail in the document:
- Work with complementary businesses that are already established here
- Manage overseas personnel on the principle “trust but verify”
- Form your corporation or limited liability company properly
- Be ready for a legal system that is different from the one back home
- Identify and protect intellectual property (IP) that is used here
- Develop detailed employee and independent contractor agreements
- Choose an accountant with international tax experience
- Be prepared to obtain a federal employer identification number
- Conduct due diligence on potential investors
- Agree on business terms before you prepare a written agreement
This blog does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice, please contact an attorney directly.
IP Warranties and Indemnification: How Much is Reasonable?
Knowledgeable licensees of intellectual property (IP) seek indemnification protection to ensure that the licensed IP legitimately belongs to the licensor and not to a third party. This post explores the interplay between indemnification provisions and IP warranties.
While indemnification provisions vary from contract to contract, the following is illustrative:
Licensor will defend, indemnify and hold Licensee harmless from all costs, expenses, and damages arising from any third-party claim alleging that the Licensed IP infringes any patent or copyright or misappropriates any trade secret (a “Claim”), provided that Licensee has given Licensor prompt notice of the Claim, allows Licensor sole control of the defense of the Claim and of all negotiations for its settlement or compromise, and cooperates in all reasonable ways with Licensor’s defense or settlement of the Claim. If a Claim results in an injunction precluding Licensee’s use of the Licensed IP, Licensor will, at its option and expense, either (a) procure for Licensee the right to continue the enjoined use, or (b) replace or modify the Licensed IP so it is no longer subject to the injunction. If Licensor, after all commercially reasonable efforts, is unable to perform under either option (a) or (b) above, then Licensor will refund to Licensee an amount equal to the remaining undepreciated/unamortized value of the Licensed IP carried on Licensee’s books for U. S. federal income tax purposes as of the date that use of the Licensed IP was enjoined.
Securing IP Requires More than an NDA
When it comes to protecting intellectual property (IP), non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are ubiquitous. What many entrepreneurs fail to realize, however, is that securing IP requires more than an NDA. For an NDA to do its job, the company must actually own the IP in the first place!
The most serious ownership problems arise when there is no written agreement between the company and the individual developing the IP. Depending on the nature of the IP (for example, whether copyright or patent protection applies) and whether the developer is an employee of the company or an independent contractor, the developer may own the IP. If this is the case, the company has, at most, a non-exclusive license.
