Ownership vs control

As you saw in the previous Step, the context in which IP is produced will determine who owns it. Remember, it’s extremely important to have a contractual agreement in place if you develop ideas on behalf of another person/organisation, to ensure that both parties understand and agree to ownership of the rights.

In some cases, you may sub-licence your rights to a third party. This means that you still have ownership, but you allow the third party to commercially exploit your rights. The specific details about who is responsible for what would need to be negotiated and agreed in a contract. (Licensing of rights is dealt with in more detail in Week 2 of this course.)

If you create IP and you’re working for an organisation, it’s important to understand who has ownership if you leave. Your employer may own the IP if you have created it under the remit of your employment, and they may have strict rules about how you may access or use your IP once you have left the organisation. In these circumstances, innovation capture processes (explained in the next Step) can be particularly helpful if you wish to separate what you do as an independent individual from what you do working for an organisation.

If the issue of employee vs employer ownership is particularly relevant in your case, read this article from Thomson Reuters which provides details about who owns which IP rights.

Here’s an example of what happens when there is a dispute over the ownership of rights between the creator and the organisation. Watch this video about the public disagreement between Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun which explains the difference between who controls and who owns Swift’s music.