Question
We have been working on a new software product as team of four, located in MA, USA. As a team of engineers, we never really talked about the Intellectual Property included in our product. However, we would like to make a step towards bringing the product to the market, incorporating as a company. What happens to the IP we created together and how do we know who owns what?
Answers: 3 public & 0 private
IP assets produced through individual or joint-efforts, be they patentable subject matter or protectable under copyright, would by default belong to their inventors and authors. Assignments of those assets can be recorded within the USPTO and Copyright Office, respectively. Now whether it is in your venture's best interest to assign rights to inventions and other work product, versus licensing (exclusively or otherwise), is an open question dependent upon your team members' goals. Further, determining who owns which, or which part of, IP can be a fact-intensive exercise.
It is advisable to engage local IP counsel to appropriately incorporate your venture and allocate any IP rights at issue.
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