Step 6: Agreements, Agreements, NDAs, contracts, disclosure, possession and description

Put it in writing

It is critically important to secure your IP with written agreements and contracts that specify and protect your IP rights.⁠^[1]

Make sure every team member or employee who has access signs a non-compete and a non-disclosure agreement, and acknowledges the discovery clauses they contain.⁠^[2] Any non-disclosure agreement (NDA) should rule out disclosure through personnel records, because such disclosure can play into the hands of people who want to create a position of weakness and exploit it with labor enforcement agencies.

It has been said that your word is worth your reputation, but that counts for nothing in a court of law, or when you need to enforce an agreed code of conduct on disclosure. Always make sure your staff and your customers sign agreements that protect your rights, as an individual or as a company. This cannot be stressed enough: if someone infringes or improperly discloses your IP, you need clean, irrefutable evidence in the form of a written agreement.

Templates, lawyers and IP clauses

A clean, clear record and agreement can also keep you out of costly litigation and court battles over these issues later on. Boilerplate employment agreements, licensing and supplier agreements, and NDAs are all available online. Hiring a legal professional to make sure they meet your particular requirements is the preferred, stronger method, and it could prove vital.

Bringing in a lawyer always costs money, so assess which assets are worth that cost. Some creative works or intellectual property do not necessarily need an agreement, unless an employee helped create them along the way. It is vital to have an IP clause in all of your employment agreements, and to add a limited form of IP clause when you hire contractors. Contracts for products and creative work that are still under development should be drafted clearly, claiming ownership of the IP.⁠^[3]

Shared projects, clear descriptions

Consider, too, conflicting claims to own the IP that may arise later from people who were close to it, or part of a group associated with it. Small and medium-sized groups with limited resources can exchange products and services under mutual agreements. This lets cash-strapped startups share each other’s dreams without dipping into their precious cash. It is useful, and it can be dangerous if a clean, clear description of the IP is not documented at the time the ideas are exchanged.

Cooperative behavior, whether casual or observed, together with the disclosure of private records, can lead to misuse of assets if mutual NDAs have not been signed.⁠^[2] The one critical piece in all of this: written agreements, with an NDA.