
January 13, 2021
Intellectual property joint ownership — land of unintended consequences
When collaborating with others, at first blush, intellectual property (“IP”) joint ownership seems like a really good idea. After all, it seems fundamentally fair for collaborators in a joint development effort to share the fruits of their labor equally. Fifty-fifty. However, what seems ultimately fair at first results in many unintended consequences, almost always leaving one party sorely disappointed.
There are three oft-repeated scenarios at the heart of disputes over IP ownership.