{"id":1443,"date":"2022-09-20T15:16:47","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T15:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/?p=1443"},"modified":"2022-09-20T15:17:38","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T15:17:38","slug":"pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"POV: Contract Interpretation – Intellectual Property Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re entering into some kind of partnership or relationship with another company where you will be creating original work for them, or you will both be creating original work for a joint venture of some kind. You start to review the contract, and the issue of intellectual property (\u201cIP\u201d) ownership comes up. You want to make sure you will still own the work you created, and you want to make sure you are protected! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when you go to read the fine print of the contract\u2026you aren\u2019t sure what it says, and what the provision means as its written. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few tips on how to read and interpret IP paragraphs: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIP\u201d = stands for intellectual property, which includes all original work you (or the other party) has or will create. It could include audio, video, captions, course materials, modules, photographs, blog posts, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ownership = if the paragraph addresses ownership of IP, you want to make sure YOU will be the owner of anything you create. Watch out for words indicating they will own all content created, they will own all IP, or anything like that. If you see anything referencing their ownership of all IP, you know you need to go back and renegotiate, to make sure you will be the owner of what you create. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assigning = the IP paragraph could also reference you \u201cassigning\u201d your IP to them. This is another way to say they will own it, and basically means you\u2019ll be giving it to them. If you want to own the work you create in connection with the partnership or joint venture, make sure you aren\u2019t assigning your IP rights to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Licensing = if the contract references \u201clicensing\u201d your IP, this means you will give them permission to use the IP for a period of time. If the contract has you licensing your IP for a period of time, make sure you can see when the licensing period ends, and that it doesn’t continue on forever! You don\u2019t want it to say licensing \u201cin perpetuity\u201d = this means \u201cforever\u201d and should be removed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IP paragraph may also reference you licensing their<\/em> IP, in the event you\u2019ll be using their trademarks, copyrighted material, or anything else that belongs to them in order to create your content. If this is part of the agreement, make sure you have the right to use whatever you need in order to create the content you\u2019re agreeing to create. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have any questions or uncertainties about what rights you may be giving away in a contract that references intellectual property ownership, don\u2019t hesitate to reach out to an attorney for help navigating the agreement! When you enter into a partnership or joint venture where your original work is being used, making sure you own the rights in your work is of vital importance! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _module_preset=”default”]

Grab my FREE Legal Checklist<\/a> to see if Your Business is Legally Compliant!<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _module_preset=”default” width=”60%”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Copy-of-Legal-Checklist.jpeg” title_text=”Legal Checklist” url=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoiaG9tZV91cmwiLCJzZXR0aW5ncyI6e319@” url_new_window=”on” _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _dynamic_attributes=”url” _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#FFFFFF” width=”72%” module_alignment=”center”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re entering into some kind of partnership or relationship with another company where you will be creating original work for them, or you will both be creating original work for a joint venture of some kind. You start to review the contract, and the issue of intellectual property (\u201cIP\u201d) ownership comes up. You […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"\n

As an entrepreneur or business owner, one of the biggest assets we have is our intellectual property - our branding, our business and course names, our original content, our logos, and other original aspects of the company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to protect things like logos, slogans, taglines, business names, and course or product names, I highly recommend beginning the process of filing a TRADEMARK application with a trademark attorney. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?? Here are my top 3 reasons: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. BRAND PROTECTION <\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    How much time, energy, and money have you invested into your branding so far? Do you have a logo? Do you have a signature course, program, or product that you are working really hard to grow? Do you want to have actual OWNERSHIP over your business name? If the answer is yes, what you need is a TRADEMARK for each of those things. Owning the trademark in things like your business name, course\/product name, and logo give you exclusive rights<\/em><\/strong> to that name and logo, and allow you to easily prevent others anywhere in the nation from using anything that is identical OR confusingly similar<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What would that do for you and your business? It would allow you to build brand awareness in your brand. For example, when you see a popular logo...like the Starbucks logo, McDonald\u2019s \u201cM\u201d or Nike \u201cswoosh\u201d -- you immediately think of that company, correct? Each of those brands has done a wonderful job in building consumer awareness around their brand and logo, and teaching the public to recognize a specific image as belonging to their company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. EXCLUSIVITY <\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      What would it do for your business and brand if you were the ONLY one who could use your business name, AND you could prevent anyone else from using not only the identical name, but anything confusingly similar to it? It would make it a lot easier for you to build consumer awareness, and carve out a specific space in the online marketplace, right? If EVERYONE knew that \u201cB-School\u201d was your online course, or \u201cBossBabe\u201d was the name of your company, you\u2019d be able to build a following around that signature brand, and teach consumers to recognize your brand. Because those companies have taken the legal initiative to protect their brands, they now have the EXCLUSIVE rights to use those names. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. EASY TO ESTABLISH OWNERSHIP <\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Have you ever heard of companies getting into legal tiffs over who created a certain piece of content first (and who copied) or who was the first to use a business name? Often times, when there is a dispute over who was the first to use a certain company name, logo, course name, or other branding element, each company will struggle to pull together evidence of the date in which they first used the name. If you have filed a trademark with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the registration certificate gives a clear date of first use, date of application, and date of registration, making it VERY easy for you to clearly establish your rights, and ensure anyone who attempts to use anything similar to your registered trademark is stopped immediately. 
        Overall, if you have any piece of your branding that you would like the exclusive right to use, and would like to ensure you are protecting it, I HIGHLY recommend starting your trademark application today! Reach out to me at         christy@christywesterfeld.com<\/a> for information on our simple and easy trademarking process.<\/p>\n","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[9,34],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","yoast_head":"\nPOV: Contract Interpretation - Intellectual Property Rights - Christy Westerfeld<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"POV: Contract Interpretation - Intellectual Property Rights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Let\u2019s say you\u2019re entering into some kind of partnership or relationship with another company where you will be creating original work for them, or you will both be creating original work for a joint venture of some kind. You start to review the contract, and the issue of intellectual property (\u201cIP\u201d) ownership comes up. You […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christy Westerfeld\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-20T15:16:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-20T15:17:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christy Westerfeld\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christy Westerfeld\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Christy Westerfeld\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13aa626577745ef97f4bb172b9f9bfa1\"},\"headline\":\"POV: Contract Interpretation – Intellectual Property Rights\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-20T15:16:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-20T15:17:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/\"},\"wordCount\":499,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13aa626577745ef97f4bb172b9f9bfa1\"},\"keywords\":[\"entrepreneur\",\"membership site\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business Owner\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/\",\"name\":\"POV: Contract Interpretation - Intellectual Property Rights - Christy Westerfeld\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-20T15:16:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-20T15:17:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"POV: Contract Interpretation – Intellectual Property Rights\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/\",\"name\":\"Christy Westerfeld\",\"description\":\"Legal Help For Your Online Business\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13aa626577745ef97f4bb172b9f9bfa1\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13aa626577745ef97f4bb172b9f9bfa1\",\"name\":\"Christy Westerfeld\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Christy-Westerfeld-New-Logo2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Christy-Westerfeld-New-Logo2.png\",\"width\":230,\"height\":99,\"caption\":\"Christy Westerfeld\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/author\/christy-westerfeld\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"POV: Contract Interpretation - Intellectual Property Rights - Christy Westerfeld","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"POV: Contract Interpretation - Intellectual Property Rights","og_description":"Let\u2019s say you\u2019re entering into some kind of partnership or relationship with another company where you will be creating original work for them, or you will both be creating original work for a joint venture of some kind. You start to review the contract, and the issue of intellectual property (\u201cIP\u201d) ownership comes up. You […]","og_url":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/","og_site_name":"Christy Westerfeld","article_published_time":"2022-09-20T15:16:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-09-20T15:17:38+00:00","author":"Christy Westerfeld","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Christy Westerfeld","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/"},"author":{"name":"Christy Westerfeld","@id":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13aa626577745ef97f4bb172b9f9bfa1"},"headline":"POV: Contract Interpretation – Intellectual Property Rights","datePublished":"2022-09-20T15:16:47+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-20T15:17:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/"},"wordCount":499,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13aa626577745ef97f4bb172b9f9bfa1"},"keywords":["entrepreneur","membership site"],"articleSection":["Business Owner"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/","url":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/","name":"POV: Contract Interpretation - Intellectual Property Rights - Christy Westerfeld","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-09-20T15:16:47+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-20T15:17:38+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/pov-contract-interpretation-intellectual-property-rights\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"POV: Contract Interpretation – Intellectual Property Rights"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/","name":"Christy Westerfeld","description":"Legal Help For Your Online Business","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13aa626577745ef97f4bb172b9f9bfa1"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13aa626577745ef97f4bb172b9f9bfa1","name":"Christy Westerfeld","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Christy-Westerfeld-New-Logo2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Christy-Westerfeld-New-Logo2.png","width":230,"height":99,"caption":"Christy Westerfeld"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"url":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/author\/christy-westerfeld\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1444,"href":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443\/revisions\/1444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christywesterfeld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}