Invention is the Mother of Necessity
Yes - you read correctly! And what do we mean by this reversal of a time-worn phrase? Simply, that once a design idea has been created and expressed, it can be treated as intellectual property, and would in turn generate the need for appropriate legal care and consideration.
Protecting Your Brand
When people think of IP, they think of product.
But what about:
→ Your user flows?
→ Your pitch deck?
→ Your brand messaging?
→ Your (whisper it) LOGO?!
Founders commission this stuff all the time, and share it with potential investors, collaborators, even freelancers.
But very few stop to ask:
→ Who owns it?
→ Can its creators reuse it?
→ Can others claim it as theirs?
IP isn’t just about patents and tech.
It’s about protecting your brand, in its entirety.
And if it’s not signed on paper…
It’s not protected.
Who owns the IP in that thing you're building?
A founder once came to me in a panic. The guy who had built their entire product was a consultant, and there was no contract or IP assignment, which means he owned the code. All of it.
And owning the code isn’t just a minor detail; the code was their ENTIRE product, all legally owned by this contractor.
Luckily for the business, this particular developer was fair. He didn’t want to be aggressive, but in theory, he could have held the whole company hostage.
We agreed on a payout of around £30k, and he could have asked for more, not because he threatened anyone, but because it was his property.
It’s wild how many start-ups skip this stuff. No contract or IP assignment, and zero thought as to who actually owns what.
Start-ups move fast, but moving fast without legal hygiene means you might be sprinting straight into a lawsuit.
So, founders… ask yourself: who owns the copyright in the thing you’re building?
If the answer isn’t you, it might be time for a chat.
(Or if you think it’s you, but it’s not on paper: same deal.)