Internal Company Policy on IPR

IP policies for any company are extremely confidential matters, and I doubt if anyone would be willing to share their internal IP policy with someone outside of the company.  A Google search would definitely give you information as to what is to be included or excluded in a typical IP policy, but specific terms needs to be worked out by you. I have the following suggestions for you.

Decide whether you want to have a single policy or separate policies for different forms of IP?

A single policy would be ideal for small companies where IP work is not extensive. If you extensively deal with some form of IP, for example patents, then I suggest you to define a separate policy on that form of IP (e.g. patents) capturing all the relevant information.

Typically any IP policy should cover the following:

Objective – defining the purpose or aim of having the policy in the organization.

Scope  - what is the extent of the IP matters to be included or excluded in the IP policy.

Applicability – Who are required to be bound by this policy, such as employees, collaborators, contractors, etc.

Responsibilities – of employees, contractors or collaborators etc who will deal with any company IP

Ownership issues – Who owns the IP (employee or employer). Another aspect to also include would be who will own the IP in collaborative research, any improvements arising out of licensed technology etc.

Restrictions – on disclosures of information by publication or any other means. How do you deal with them if someone wants to disclose or publish any information? What is the approval process etc.

Internal Assessment of IP created - what is the procedure? How employees should report their inventions etc.

Licensing of IP – procedure for in-licensing, out-licensing or cross-licensing

Enforcement – how do you enforce your IP rights. What measures do you have for detection of infringement etc.

Defense - how do you deal with any infringement suit filed by third parties?

Definitions of specific terms used in your policy.

There could be many more things that can be included. As you begin drafting the policy, you will know what to be included in it.

And finally don’t forget to provide training to your employees before you implement the policy.

I hope the above information will be of some assistance to you in coming up with an IP policy for your company. I wish you good luck in your efforts.