Joint ownership of intellectual property rights


Produced in partnership with Jessica Stretch
Practice notes

Joint ownership of intellectual property rights


Produced in partnership with Jessica Stretch

Practice notes
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When parties collaborate on creative projects or Research and development, complex questions arise about the Ownership of any resulting IP.

Joint ownership of IP may seem like a straightforward and fair solution where parties have worked together and cannot distinguish the output of their respective efforts. However, where parties fail to give careful consideration as to how their jointly created IP will be owned, organised and exploited, there are legal pitfalls, practical difficulties and obstacles to full commercialisation of the IP. In the vast majority of cases it is preferable for parties to enter into an express agreement on joint ownership of IP rather than relying upon the default legal position.

This Practice Note provides an overview of the law on joint ownership of IP (also known as co-ownership, used interchangeably in this note):

  1. •

    Implied joint ownership—basic principles

  2. •

    Implied joint ownership—risks and obstacles

  3. •

    Joint ownership agreements—key considerations

  4. •

    Alternatives to joint ownership of IP

  5. •

    Summary—joint ownership checklist

A working knowledge of IP law is assumed. For background to the IP rights

Jessica Stretch
Jessica Stretch

Senior IP Counsel

Jessica is senior intellectual property lawyer with over 10 years of experience, advising on all aspects of trade marks, passing off, copyright, designs and domain names. Her practice covers contentious and non-contentious IP with a particular focus on brand clearance, anti-counterfeiting and digital media.

Jessica works as a freelance IP lawyer, primarily with technology companies including eBay and King. She began her career as an IP litigator at Osborne Clarke LLP and Kemp Little, followed by a professional support role at ³ÉÈËÓ°Òô UK.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Ownership definition
What does Ownership mean?

The term ownership denotes a wide array of rights over property.

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