As the founder of an enterprise you must ensure that the legal entity you set up to exploit your business concept owns all of the IP associated with the concept. This includes the IP that is created directly on behalf of the company, but also any IP created by parties outside the company or in the time period before the company was formed.
In today’s modern economy all businesses rely heavily on their intellectual property (or ‘IP’). Whether you realise it or not, your employees are using or generating some form of IP each and every day they are at work. But what happens when your employee walks out the door (or is pushed)? Have you taken the necessary steps to ensure your IP remains behind?
Most people realise the importance of protecting their Intellectual Property. But ‘ideas’ and ‘concepts’ aren’t a form of IP, as there is no ‘property’ capable of being protected. Don’t despair, there are ways to protect and exploit your interests.
Losing an employee, whether by dismissal or resignation, is never easy. But it’s even harder when the employee walks out the door with a head (and possibly a briefcase or USB) full of your confidential information.