At Eastern Peak Software, the customer is the sole owner of a product. Some of the important points included in our standard outsourcing contract are as follows:.
You can put the requirements to sign those in the main software development contract. This agreement has to include the at-will assignment of all the inventions developed by the employee and the associated IP rights. In addition, there should be an obligation to help protect the ownership rights. It especially concerns the senior executives, because they have more access to confidential information.
Usually their employment agreements address IP ownership. You should keep a written record of who helped develop and create your source code. Watch out for dependencies on 3rd party IPs that were introduced into the code without your knowledge particularly open source code.
The Source Code Ownership Agreement is an additional protection and assurance, which may also be a part of the initial agreement with the company. If your lawyer keeps track of all the measures to protect your IP ownerships, it will prevent you from missing any details.
Always remember to double-check and triple-check. Oftentimes the question of ownership is neglected until the moment of launching a product. Unfortunately, at this time is too late. Be very careful with IP ownership issues.
Only a secure and reliable company will lead your product to success. Ready to discuss your software development project? Contact us for a free online consultation! As CEO at Eastern Peak, a professional software consulting and development company, Alexey ensures top quality and cost-effective services to clients from all over the world.
Alexey is also a founder and technology evangelist at several technology companies. Copyright law also protects against indirect copying, such as unauthorized translation of the code into a different programming language.
Copyright protection arises automatically upon the creation of an original work of authorship. In contrast with patents, independent development of a copyrighted work is a defense to an allegation of copyright infringement. Imagine, though, how unlikely it would be for the same thousands of lines of code to be created independently by one not engaged in unauthorized copying.
Unlike patents, copyright law affords no protection to the ideas underlying the program. Ideas and concepts are fair game for competitors to the extent they are not protected by patents or trade secrets. A trade secret is any formula, pattern, compound, device, process, tool, or mechanism that is not generally known or discoverable by others, is maintained in secrecy by its owner, and gives its owner a competitive advantage because it is kept secret.
The classic example of a trade secret is the formula to Coca-Cola. Many features of software, such as code and the ideas and concepts reflected in it, can be protected as trade secrets. This protection lasts as long as the protected element retains its trade secret status. Any software, custom software including, can be classified as protected by the means of copyright, patents, or trade secrets.
Software products consist of various components that usually fall under different legal categories, making protection and definition of derivative works a headache. On the other hand, you can have two greatly distinctive source codes that result in the very same functionality. Simply put, you can have two software apps with unique source code but producing the same results and providing the same functionality.
Different legislations have contradicting interpretations whether copying of functional elements of computer software is an infringement of copyright. Take for example those dozens of project management apps that provide the very same Kanban board functionality and are effectively all the same.
It is very hard to define whether one software infringes the copyright of another from legal point of view although you certainly cannot patent their sticky board appearance per se. International legislation, in general, does not allow patenting of generic ideas or objects. Neither can you patent a vegetable you can find in nature, nor can you patent the respective word used for naming this vegetable in whatever language.
But how can you patent software functionality or derivative works based on existing software functionality? Bearing in mind that copyright over literary work does not fully protect software, a good number of software companies turn to patents to protect their products.
So take your time, hire a patent lawyer, and explore all the patents in your field before you even think of developing the software you have in mind. Almost everything that fulfills specific requirements of technicality and is intended for implementation through a computer could be patented under this definition.
Exploring all patents and copyrighted work in your niche is actually the only way to avoid litigation, bearing in mind that according to a recent PwC study some 23 percent of all patent lawsuits involve computer software, hardware, or electronics. All patentable ideas you may have should be protected well before you release your software product. Carefully evaluate all the elements of your custom-built software to determine which ones are subject to patents, which ones can be protected under copyright legislation, and what you must protect as a trademark.
Since no one is working in a vacuum, consider the use of non-disclosure agreements in all applicable cases. Disclosing your product ideas before the public, even when you have gathered VC investors to pitch your product, may result in loss of IP rights over your core product ideas. Signing NDA agreements is a viable method to protect your IP positions at any stage of software development.
The same applies to your company employees and contractors. We are witnessing a great number of litigations involving former employees or founders who have left a company taking intellectual property with them to establish a new business. Employee agreements cannot prevent data breaches or data theft but can help you regain control over stolen intellectual property.
Furthermore, try adding clauses stipulating that all IP created during work for your company belongs to the firm and draft specific agreements with such a clause included for all employees and external contractors. The most obvious example, of course, is the source code itself. Copyrights are, in most instances, automatically applied to the software upon completion. Like patents, businesses are required to request and apply for any trademarks.
Intellectual property in any sense is highly important. Not only can it work to boost brand awareness, but it is also considered to be one of the most attractive draws for potential investors. Unfortunately, software can be highly vulnerable.
Internally, there are concerns of theft from employees or contractors, while in terms of tailored software created specifically to client request, there are concerns that source code could be used without payment. While the first stage of software protection looked at legal protection of the source code and associated concepts, the second stage focuses on the business obligation to protect the registered intellectual property.
It is not enough to simply apply for patents or trademarks; businesses need to ensure that they are taking the appropriate measures to protect their property and minimize the risk of theft or other losses.
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