Questions regarding all matters related to ownership and rights to intangible assets such as art, software, designs, etc.
3
votes
2answers
88 views
Confidentiality Agreements for innovative uses of commercial software
I have a startup music business where I can produce, but am not limited to, an entire 18-piece big-band ala Hoyt Curtin ("The Jetsons", "Flintstones" etc.) overnight without any recording expenses to ...
3
votes
2answers
108 views
Is there any issue if my service APIs are very similar to my competitors
We have a web service and offer APIs for customers to integrate and create other customizations. Since following ReSTful design, we found our design eventually are so much alike our competitors. If we ...
3
votes
1answer
65 views
Research if patent holder is a troll
I've recently discovered a patent for a product that's in the field of the product I'm working on. The patent itself has zero direct resemblance to the product I'm working on, but there are "early ...
3
votes
1answer
199 views
Example of Agreement (template) with Company for doing stuff in spare time
According to related topic:
If I'm working at a company, do they have intellectual property rights to the stuff I do in my spare time?
(and related : Intellectual Property and Side-Projects in ...
3
votes
1answer
326 views
No employer contract, what IP rights do I have?
Ive been employeed by an Advertising agency for coming up on 3 years now as a web developer. Prior to my employment I was a subcontractor hired by this same agency for about 3 years. I have had many ...
3
votes
2answers
250 views
UK one-man software house Ltd - should director have employment contract?
Scenario: A one-man, self-funding software developer with a software-licensing business model. Startup is self funding with no revenue anticipated for at least 1.5 years.
My query relates mainly to ...
3
votes
4answers
507 views
Startup organization before incorporation
I'm beginning a startup at my school. Right now its just me doing all the work, but i am gathering a team that will ideally be my co-founders. I wont be incorporating any time soon, but i will be ...
3
votes
1answer
184 views
How have University IP licensing terms for tech startups changed since Google licensed PageRank from Stanford?
What were the details of the IP licensing agreement between Google and Stanford for PageRank?
For example, what PERCENTAGE equity and royalty rate did Google give to Stanford? Were there ...
3
votes
3answers
121 views
Technology Accelerator or Bootstrapping
I have a few ideas for a company, and plan to get started sometime this fall. I know of an accelerator that focuses on this vertical, and I have contacts there so reaching out to them would be pretty ...
3
votes
1answer
81 views
How do I get an IP Lawyer as an Advisor
My pre-seed technology startup has developed unique IP which needs protection. The industry we're targeting is run by giants (with tons of IP), so the IP story will play a key-role on the startup. ...
3
votes
2answers
215 views
Software copyright after dissolution
I was part of a joint venture that is in windup mode. The software was mostly a compilation of open source software. No patents filed or anything like that. However, the lawyer is selling assets which ...
3
votes
1answer
195 views
Intellectual Property and Side-Projects in Western Europe
Joel's answer on "If I'm working at a company, do they have intellectual property rights to the stuff I do in my spare time?" certainly was an interesting read. However, it was pretty much centred ...
2
votes
8answers
1k views
Who owns the IP rights for a product you're making outside working hours (in USA)?
Does the company you're currently work for owns the IP rights if you are creating a product after work hours? Is there anything that can defend me if the company at one point claims that they own it ...
2
votes
3answers
244 views
If the agreement states IP is owned by the Consultant, is there any room for disagreement?
I am in the process to send a service agreement to my clients. I am stating that Intellectual Property related to all promotional material created while in the service agreement by my company will be ...
2
votes
2answers
1k views
Intellectual property - Employee Agreement
I work for an employer in the recruitment advertising industry and I'm pretty sure I've signed an agreement that mentions my employer has rights to intellectual property for anything I work on while ...
2
votes
4answers
229 views
Is it illegal to sell a software template created at work but duplicated and augmented at home?
I am an employee at a large company and I created a worksheet using my work computer. The worksheet helps me organize my info such as passwords and time-off records. I replicated it and then ...
2
votes
3answers
232 views
I'm afraid someone's patenting my ideas
I had a brainstorming session with a friend a year and a half ago, and a lot of great ideas came out of it. I moved on the ideas, starting a company - our product has been on the market for about 10 ...
2
votes
2answers
131 views
Would this idea violate any law?
The idea is this :
My website would just embed videos from various websites like youtube, metacafe, etc.
I want to have users log in and comment or discuss on the videos I embed.
The purpose is ...
2
votes
4answers
252 views
Should I use my company's IP?
I've been working for a company as a contractor for several months. While working for this company, I created some seriously sensitive IP. This is IP that is nigh on patentable.
My employment with ...
2
votes
1answer
456 views
What are intellectual property warranties and when should they be used?
What are intellectual property warranties and when should they be used?
I found this site: "IP Warranty, Indemnity, or both?" however, it is still not clear to me exactly what they are and how they ...
2
votes
3answers
123 views
Protection Help Bringing a Social-Media Platform to Indiegogo
I'm a 19 year old Canadian, and I've created a unique platform in regards to social media. I'm currently alone in this project and I feel the need to hold it close to me; as I've heard horror stories ...
2
votes
2answers
111 views
How to avoid idea “contamination” when soliciting advice on a product
We've got a software product going into alpha release and want to invite some super users to test and give feedback. I wonder if there's any sort of steps we should be taking to prevent the issue of ...
2
votes
1answer
211 views
How Should I Deal With Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is a subject that has far reaching implications for your business. There are several different types of intellectual property that every business deals with. They include: ...
2
votes
1answer
268 views
Is intellectual property a commodity?
Is intellectual property considered a commodity? Can intellectual property be bought and/or sold like other commodity type goods?
2
votes
2answers
107 views
Best strategy - attend tech conference vs contact directly business angel
We are working on a software product, in developement with v 1.0 not released yet, but with plenty of specifications for v 1.0 and for the next versions.
Small technical team, low budget.
We're ...
2
votes
3answers
205 views
Ownership of IP developed while employed
I'm a 3d software developer working for a manufacturing company on industrial visualization software programs. In the future, I wish to develop 2d/3d games, mapping applications during my free time.
...
2
votes
2answers
70 views
How do you approach intellecutal property rights when developping general products for cilents?
We always "reserve the right to re-use any code written for this project" in our contracts with clients. With this in mind, if a later client needs a very similar web app, is it ethical to slightly ...
2
votes
2answers
103 views
Which Country is Suitable for Legal Protection in Game Automation Software Development
After reading today's Gamasutra article about Jagex vs Impulse Software, and considering my own academic activities, I suddenly became very concerned with my legal protection.
As such I would like ...
2
votes
5answers
417 views
how to present ideas to a possible future partner without getting them 'stolen'?
I am planning into getting involved in a venture in an asian country.
I have a friend from this country that has an experience in the kind of business I want to be involved in and that has “ built “ ...
2
votes
3answers
304 views
Remote employee in China?
My niche software developing startup needs specialist developers. I have located an individual in China with proven experience in my field. How can I best go about working with him?
I can't employ ...
2
votes
1answer
117 views
Idea discussed in a team - if only select few execute and implement with no help from others - can others claim a stake?
An idea was recently discussed at work amongst the team, but we realized there was no buy-in from management without a working prototype. Also there was no funding available from the employer to work ...
2
votes
1answer
50 views
website still active although supplier and trading office cancelled agreement
How can one legally make a company remove the website due to false representation. The domain belongs to the trading company as well as the company name. But the supplier has terminated the ...
2
votes
3answers
459 views
do I own my work
If I build a website while on salary, is it considered my bosses intellectual property? I have never had a contract and the domain is registered in my own name. I put in a lot of extra time to build ...
2
votes
6answers
314 views
Startup my own or work for an established startup
Over the past 2 years I have been developing my own business. Recently we have gotten some traction and are moving forward--code is being written and things are falling into place. I feel very ...
2
votes
1answer
254 views
Employer permission agreement to do contract programming work in spare time
I'm in discussions with a programmer to do contract work for my startup. He works full time programming at a Massachusetts company whose business is unrelated to mine and my project would be done in ...
2
votes
1answer
87 views
On working with consultants
I have been asked by many startups to help them with their core machine learning IP
Unlike outsourced software development, machine learning is difficult to outsource or even to specify because it ...
2
votes
2answers
85 views
Public transit app: possible revenues and IP issues?
I am looking at developing a website sort of like ones that NY-area commuter railroads have, showing train departure times and tracks. One major transit hub near me has no central location for this ...
2
votes
3answers
135 views
Intellectual Property for similar software with 2 different clients
I run a business developing my own software that I license out, but also coding projects for businesses at hourly rate. So clients employ me as a contractor to do this.
Many of these projects are ...
2
votes
1answer
144 views
Can we set NewCo's initial valuation at zero?
Background: Company A has developed a software product. Revenue is about $8K per month; margin is about 75% (after royalties). Debt owed to angel and family/friends investors is about $550K. The ...
2
votes
1answer
200 views
Question about IP and sweat equity in California
I've been part of a startup that has so far done nothing or gone anywhere in almost a year. I have pretty much given up on the place but I am curious if I can walk out with an game pitch I created. I ...
2
votes
2answers
105 views
Software Contributions to a LLC Partnership
I have a 33.33% stake in an LLC partnership, which was made with cash contributions. I have since developed software with an associate who is not part of the company that we would like to sell as ...
2
votes
2answers
174 views
Terms of agreement with a co-founder after split-up
I recently quit working with my co-founder. We had started a software business together and had agreed on a certain profit share. But shortly after the launch of the apps, we had to split because he ...
2
votes
1answer
116 views
How to document transfer pricing policy for IP
In Europe, there is enormous tax differences between high tax and low-tax jurisdictions for holding IP (for example 60% for owners of a "3:12" Swedish company vs 5% for a Luxembourg IP company).
So ...
1
vote
3answers
131 views
Developer IP and personal Coding
My friend and I recently started our own service company. Since we have no technical background, we found a development guy to join our team. We ended up filing for an LLC two months afterwards (we ...
1
vote
5answers
343 views
How do I broach the idea of me owning the rights to software when a company is paying me to write it
I am working on a web application that is going into beta test next week for safety engineers, but the company that is paying for it is safety engineers. Ideally, if I had the ownership of the code ...
1
vote
2answers
93 views
Is an open source prototype a bad idea?
I'm building a prototype for a web/mobile application. The goal is to collect user generated content, let user rate it while at the same time being entertained and do something interesting with it. If ...
1
vote
4answers
1k views
How to Copyright a Marketing Idea
I have a few marketing idea that I have done some research on and have not been able to find other people who have done them. Since I am not in any businesses that could use the idea I wanted to sell ...
1
vote
3answers
75 views
Where does the rights to the software lies when I've used them in the company?
I've developed an authoring tool for games and also a player that plays them on Android.
One year ago I founded a company with friends and we've published some really cool games by using the engine ...
1
vote
3answers
292 views
IP Ownership Dispute
My partner and I are having a dispute. I wanted to know who owns the code in a company with one technical cofounder (me) who has written the entire code. I was the one who came up the idea and started ...
1
vote
2answers
73 views
Can a Greek letter be trademarked (for use within the scope of a particular service offering)?
Let's say we offer an approach to better dental hygiene and we call it the change™ dental hygiene solution and we represent our change™ solution with the Greek delta (Δ) symbol. Hence, we might also ...
