Confidentiality & Intellectual Property
Non-disclosure agreements
Keep information shared between parties confidential.
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Protecting an idea or a brand
Work, a name or a product you want to keep control of, and what to do when someone else uses it.
Most people with an intellectual-property problem cannot say whether it is a trademark, a copyright or something else, and do not need to. It starts with what you have: a name, some work, an invention or a product. What to do depends on who made it, who else may use it, and whether someone already is.
What this can involveWhat it can involve
Does one of these sound like yours?
You don’t need to know the legal term for it. Start with what actually happened.
- A name or a brandThe name you trade under, and what you can do to keep others from using it.
- Work you createdWriting, images, designs and other things you made, and who may copy or reuse them.
- An inventionSomething new you have made or developed and want to keep control of.
- Who owns itWhether it belongs to you, to a co-founder, to an employer or to someone you paid to make it.
- Letting someone else use itPermission for another person or business to use what you own, on terms you set.
- Before you share it, and when someone uses itKeeping something confidential while you show it to someone, and responding when someone else is already using it.
None of these quite right? You don’t have to pick one.
More than one area
One situation, more than one area of law.
Protecting an idea or a brand rarely sits in a single category. These are the areas it most often reaches, and why. You don’t have to pick one — the matter decides, not you.
Each one is a real page you can read before deciding anything.
Most oftenIntellectual PropertyWhat you own, how it is protected and who may use it.
And often also
- Corporate & CommercialIn most businesses the brand and the product are the value.
- ContractsAssignment, licensing and confidentiality are all agreements.
- Technology, Privacy & DataSoftware and content raise ownership questions of their own.
- Disputes & LitigationWhen someone else is already using what you made.
Documents
You may also need a document.
The documents that surround ownership, confidentiality and licensing are ready to use. They sit alongside a conversation about what you have, not in place of it.
Ready-to-Use Documents
Browse all confidentiality and IP documentsConfidentiality & Intellectual Property
Licensing agreements
Let another party use something you own, on your terms.
Confidentiality & Intellectual Property
IP assignment agreements
Make sure the IP someone creates belongs to the right owner.
Confidentiality & Intellectual Property
Copyright assignment agreements
Transfer ownership of a copyrighted work.
Custom Documents
A mutual non-disclosure agreement built from guided questions, for the point where you need to show someone your idea before anything is signed.
Business & Corporate
Mutual non-disclosure agreement
Two parties sharing confidential information with each other, on matching terms.
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Not sure where to start
Still not sure this is your situation?
Then don't pick one. Describe what's happening in your own words and we'll work out what it involves — and which areas of law it reaches.
Other situations
Is one of these closer?
Questions
Questions people ask at this point.
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Tell us what’s happening. We’ll take it from there.
You don't need to know which area of law it is, or what the next step should be. Describe the situation and we'll work out what it involves.