Intellectual Property (IP) refers to an immaterial product, which is the outcome of an arm of creativity. Examples of Industrial Intellectual Property are trademarks, inventions, and the industrial designs used in computer programs and applications. Copyright IP refers to inventions, artwork, designs, sculptures and anything else that is considered a creation of the mind.
Intellectual Property escrow is a highly popular form of business agreement relating to technology; and if you are undertaking any business that requires another person’s intellectual property on an ongoing basis it’s essential that you understand how intellectual property escrow can benefit you and your product.
In today’s business age, many goods and services are offered as a long-term agreement; this could mean that a product or service which is offered to your consumer needs to be maintained by the expert who created it on an ongoing basis. This doesn’t necessarily just mean today or in the next six months but for years to come, perhaps for an unknown period. To mitigate the risk of the programmer or designer not being available to provide this service in the future, you can put their intellectual property into escrow. Intellectual Property Escrow is the process involved when the owner of the IP places anything their consumer needs to replace their service – this could include, but is not limited to, paperwork relating to patents and copyright, designs, instruction manuals and any other documented knowledge required for the provision of service to continue. Putting IP into escrow will mean that all contractual obligations will be fulfilled even if the holder of the intellectual property is not available to fulfill them.
Handing over important, highly confidential documents to a third party is not a decision that should be made lightly, and it’s extremely important that the IP holder selects a trusted company that can securely hold on to sensitive technology information. This is where Escrow.com can help!. Our online service is extremely safe, secure and presents zero risk to the customer - all with low fees and rates.
Once the services of Escrow.com have been enlisted the consumer will create a list of all items that they’d like deposited which may include product manuals, procedure documents, source codes and more. A contract will then be drawn up to decide how it can be monitored that the intellectual property has gone into escrow, and both parties have done what they agreed to.
The most important factor to consider when putting a supplier’s intellectual property into escrow is when and how it can be accessed. These instances are referred to as ‘triggering events’ and include factors such as a breakdown in relationships, bankruptcy, poor performance or the manufacturer not meeting service level agreements. These events must be contractually decided before the intellectual property is put into escrow so that both parties are clear on their obligations to each other. If your business or service relies on the intellectual property of somebody else, it is important that you put to use the services of Escrow.com to ensure the success and longevity of your business. A contract must be created to ensure that both parties fulfill their obligations to each other and that no business suffers in the event of a breakdown in relationships or ability to provide a service based on the intellectual property of another.
Visit www.escrow.com for further information and a comprehensive breakdown of our fees and an overview of our services.