Make sure the company owns what it builds.
Intellectual property protection starts with paperwork: clear assignments from everyone who creates for the business, confidentiality agreements, and coordinated trademark filings for your name and brand.
IP Ownership & Trademark Coordination, item by item.
Every engagement is scoped to what you actually need. These are the matters Eight Law handles most often in this area.
IP ownership & assignment documents
Clear title to the work your business depends on.
- Founder IP assignment agreements
- Employee confidentiality and invention assignment agreements
- Contractor assignment and work-made-for-hire terms
- Cleanup of assignments that were missed
Confidentiality
Keeping the business's information inside the business.
- Non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements
- Confidentiality terms in employment and contractor documents
- Information-sharing terms for partners and vendors
Licensing
Using others' IP — and letting others use yours — on clear terms.
- License-in and license-out agreements
- IP ownership terms in commercial contracts
- Review of IP clauses in customer and vendor agreements
Trademark coordination
Protecting the name your customers know.
- Coordinating trademark filings for your business name and brand
- Coordinating with trademark counsel where a matter calls for it
- Brand ownership terms in agreements with designers and agencies
Signs it's time to call.
How it's billed
Assignment and confidentiality documents are usually a flat-fee project. Trademark filings involve government fees, which are separate. Ongoing IP questions can be handled under an outside general counsel retainer.
- Founders built product before the company existed
- You use freelancers or agencies to create code, content, or design
- You're sharing confidential information with a potential partner
- You're about to raise and diligence will ask who owns the IP
- You're launching a brand and want the name protected
What working together looks like.
Direct access to your attorney at every step — no hand-offs, and scope and fees agreed in writing before work begins.
- 01
Inventory
Who created what, and under which agreements.
- 02
Gap list
Missing assignments and weak clauses identified.
- 03
Documents
Assignments, NDAs, and templates prepared.
- 04
Coordination
Trademark filings coordinated and records organized.
Doesn't the company automatically own what employees and contractors create?
Are there limits on what an employee invention assignment can cover in California?
Do you handle patents?
Read before you call.
Founder Agreements: The Basics Every Co-Founder Should Know
What a founder agreement covers — equity splits, vesting, IP assignment, roles, and what happens when a founder leaves — and why it's easier to agree now.
Read the guide HiringIndependent Contractor vs. Employee in California: The ABC Test
How California's ABC test (AB 5, Labor Code § 2775) decides worker classification, the main exemptions, penalties for willful misclassification, and practical steps.
Read the guideRelated services.
Let's build something that lasts.
Tell us where your business is headed. We'll tell you what it takes, legally, to get there.