One of the most important issues to address when setting up an new venture is ownership of the intellectual property. Authors will create copyrightable works, others will have confidential information, and inventors will bring their inventions to the venture. Likewise, the new venture will be using brands and logos that will result in trademark rights. Whether the new venture is a start-up between some friends or a joint venture between two companies, it is very important, early on, to created a structure to deal with those rights.
In a typical new venture, there is a creative person (or company), an investor, and there will be operations people, too. Sometimes, those functions will be mixed. However, in the various people who come to the business will be doing different things and may have different expectations about how they will be paid and what they will own. Deciding how each one is to be compensated can be complex. Also, the those bringing intellectual property to the new organization may not want to assign the property to the company, or they may want to have it back if the new business does not do as well as everyone hopes it will. Good communication -- early -- about everyone's expectations is important.
To learn more about these issues send us an email or call us at (713) 972-1150.