The Contract Focus is on Intellectual Property Rights

The Contract Focus is on Intellectual Property Rights
In the U.K, ownership of an invention initially lies with the inventor(s). The Copyright Act of 1976 states that the source code of a software program or an application is considered a literary work and, as such, qualifies for copyright protection. Therefore, the person(s) who creates or develops an original software becomes the initial owner of its copyright (De Leon, Donoso, & de León, 2017).
Works for Hire (Created for Employer)
According to the Intellectual Property Office (2014), an employer is the initial owner of a literary work that an employee develops in the course of the employment. While the term the “course of employment” lacks a precise definition, U.K courts have helped demystify the phrase while settling previous disputes by determining whether an employee has a contract of service (such as employees) or a contract of services (such as freelancers). Freelancers or independent contractors usually retain copyright ownership of their inventions unless otherwise stated in their contracts.
Joint Ownership
When two or more people make an invention or create original work, and each person’s contribution is not distinct from the other(s), their contributions become a unitary whole consisting of inseparable parts (IPO, 2014).
Copyright Transfer
Intellectual Property Rights, specifically Copyrights, can be transferred to a different party once initial ownership of the building design software is established. Assignment of rights is one of the ways of copyright transfer. Assigning requires that a company employee transfer ownership of any invention they made during their regular job duties to their employer. This provision ensures that the employer has full rights to intellectual property. Making licensing arrangements beforehand is an equally helpful alternative that involves all parties agreeing. Intellectual Property can be licensed in or licensed out to another entity for a fee (IPO, 2014).
Contractual Provisions
* Peter’s Contract
Disclosure Provision
This provision will require that the employee (Peter) informs the employer (Jane) of the full details of an intellectual property that they developed according to the assignment provision. Often, this includes improvements or discoveries that may or may not be patentable, copyrightable, or protectable that the employee conceives, completes, or reduces to practice (De Leon, Donoso, & de León, 2017).
Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Provision
This provision in Peter’s contract will protect information that the company considers confidential. The NDA will clearly define the information to be held in confidence, how it should be marked, and when the information must not be disclosed. It will also detail the exceptions to the confidentiality requirements. NDAs often include other miscellaneous provisions for tech startup companies similar to Jane’s.
Scope of Employment (Assignment Provision)
Since Peter will be an employee in the company, the contract should include a requirement to assign inventions made during his regular job duties as a software developer. This provision will ensure that Jane’s company has total owners...