How does a crowdfunding campaign affect our IP?

One important issue that you need to be aware of is that most, if not all, crowd-based funding require disclosure of your technology in order to secure the funding.

This disclosure may preclude you from obtaining patent protection for your technology in some countries around the world. However, there are countries (such as Australia) that provide a grace period to allow you to file a patent application after you disclose your technology . As such, if you decided to go down the path of patent protection, it may be prudent to file a patent application before promoting your technology via crowd-based funding. This just provides you maximum flexibility in deciding which countries you want patent protection in.

Regards

Jing

To put into context the advice given by Jing, you may find this article featuring the case of the start-up Aurora Labs interesting - they pulled their campaign out of Kickstarter due to IP concerns.

http://www.startupsmart.com.au/technology/startup-pulls-kickstarter-campaign-due-to-concerns-over-intellectual-property/2014103113533.html