Intellectual property, also known as IP, is an intangible creative invention that is protected by law. It gives the inventor exclusive and sole rights to the invention. However, like any other property, intellectual property can also be assigned, sold, or licensed to another party.
An intellectual property owner has the exclusive rights to sell or license their IP rights to another. To this, it is recommended that an intellectual property agreement be drawn. If you do not want to draw up the contract from the scratch, you can use an intellectual property contract template and customize it.
What Is an Intellectual Property Agreement?
An Intellectual property agreement is a legal contract that validates the transfer of intellectual property (IP) rights from the owner or originator to another party. Intellectual property includes innovations, such as design, invention, pattern, trade name, trademark, trade secret, logo, or another novel creation.
The owner of the intellectual property in intellectual property contracts is referred to as the Assignor. This is the person selling or assigning their IP rights to another party. The party receiving the IP rights is referred to as the Assignee. The agreement contains everything relating to the terms of the transaction and is legally binding.
To make the transfer or assignment a legal transaction, the contract should be in writing, especially if it is an exclusive license. When writing an IP contract, you need to be mindful of the legal terms used in the document.
If you would like to draft the contract on your own, you can use an intellectual property agreement template and customize it to suit your need. However, it is recommended that you share the contract with a legal practitioner for their professional input. This is because the contract and the transfer process is a major legal transaction.
Why Do You Need an Intellectual Property Agreement?
People make and develop new inventions and creations now and then. Most times, these creations are needed by other individuals and organizations for the growth of their business. If you are an originator of intellectual property or you want to purchase or be assigned the rights to use the IP, you will need an intellectual property agreement.
This agreement highlights the terms of transfer between the assignor and the assignee. It states how the IP can be used and the timeframe of the use. It also states if the rights to use the intellectual property are exclusive or not as well as other details required for making the transaction a legal activity.
Depending on whether you want to use a legal practitioner to draft your agreement or not, you can choose to use an intellectual property agreement template free to create your contract.
You can find a variety of editable options online and when you have found the perfect template, you can proceed to customize the content. Since the document is editable, you can change and tweak the content to suit your needs.
Dos and Don’ts Checklist for an Intellectual Property Agreement
There are some dos and don’ts checklists that you must put into consideration when it comes to negotiating an intellectual property agreement. As stated earlier, this is a legally binding document that is enforceable in the court of law.
However, if the document does not contain the required information, it may become impossible to enforce the contract. Here are some dos and don’ts of intellectual property agreements.
Dos:- Check to see if your intellectual property is patentable. If it is, patent it before you decide to sell or assign it to another party.
- Use an intellectual property agreement sample as the basis for your IP agreement. This is to give you an idea of what should be included in the document. Having a template to work with makes the work easier.
- Share the intellectual property agreement with your attorney to be sure that your interest is adequately covered.
Don’ts:
- Do not share your intellectual property with the other party until you both sign the intellectual property agreement.
- Do not disclose your intellectual property until you complete the patent process.
- Do not use any ambiguous words in describing any terms of the contract
Tips for Writing an Intellectual Property Agreement
It has been established that an intellectual property agreement should be written. You may engage the service of your attorney to draft the contract or use one of the available intellectual property contract templates available online.
Whichever option you choose, ensure that it details the prerequisites for writing a legally binding intellectual property agreement. Here are some tips that you should consider when writing your intellectual property agreement.
- Explicitly define the intellectual property that you want to assign or license.
- State the indemnities and warranties offered by the assignor or licensor concerning the intellectual property.
- If any, highlight the specific circumstances that the rights assigned may be reverted or the license canceled.
- State the treatment of associated moral rights
- The document should be duly signed by the parties and their witnesses.
To make the process of drafting the agreement easier and faster, you can choose to use an intellectual property agreement sample and customize it to suit your specific needs. You will find a plethora of options on the online platform.
Conclusion
Intellectual property contracts are used for the transfer or assignment of an intangible invention from the originator, known as the assignor, to the person receiving the intellectual property, known as the assignee. The contract is legally binding and is enforceable in a court of law.
To get started with writing your IP agreement, you may consider using an intellectual property ownership agreement template. All you have to do is edit the template and customize it to fit your needs. When choosing a template, ensure you use a reputable website that offers editable forms and a digital signature option.
