Startup IP ownership checks before investor outreach

Make one IP list

IP is work the firm may own. It can be code, brand art, inventions, and trade secrets.

List what the firm uses or plans to show. Add the maker, first date, owner now, and file place.

Keep facts apart from guesses. A code log may say who wrote code. It may not say who owns it.

• Asset: code, art, name, invention, or trade secret.
• Maker: person or firm that made it.
• Rights file: signed work, transfer, or licence paper.
• State: clear, open, or needs advice.

Trace people and rights files

Start with each founder, worker, contractor, adviser, and agency. Link each key item to work dates. Link it to the right files.

For US copyright, an employee's work must be part of their job to be work made for hire. Work made to order needs set things too. One is a signed written deal. [2]

Do not use a job name or bill as proof of rights. Get legal help when work came before the firm, from another firm, or from more than one country.

• Signed founder and worker deals.
• Contractor and agency work scopes.
• Transfer, licence, or consent files.
• Dates, signers, and the item each file covers.

Check patent and brand records

For each patent item, note the patent or file number. Note the inventors, owner, and rights file. Keep the full signed file with the list.

The USPTO says an owner can record a patent transfer in Assignment Center. It needs a cover sheet and legal file. Its search has recorded patent transfer data from 1980 on. [1] A record is a cross-check. It is not all the proof.

For a brand, write the name, what you sell, country, first use, and filing state. The USPTO says a search can use its federal list, state lists, and the web. [4]

• Patent or file number and inventor list.
• Transfer copy and record state, if any.
• Brand name, logo, offer, place, and first-use proof.
• Search date, search scope, and open clash.

Keep secrets safe and show gaps

Some useful assets do not need a public filing. A trade secret can be a process, setting, buyer method, or private code detail.

WIPO says a trade secret needs secrecy. It also needs steps to keep it safe. Those steps can include access limits, confidential marks, and non-disclosure deals with staff, suppliers, and partners. [3]

Show a short list in an early investor talk. Do not put source code or the full secret in a wide deck. Keep a full pack for a later ask with a clear access rule.

Give each gap an owner, next step, and date. An open gap is better than a false claim that all assets are clear.

• Who needs each secret.
• Terms on secrecy and return of files.
• Where the source file and signed paper sit.
• Gap, owner, next step, and check date.