Intellectual Property & Technology

For most technology companies, the intellectual property is the company — and the single most common, most damaging gap is IP created by founders, contractors, or early hires that was never properly assigned to the corporation. Fauri Law helps founders and growth companies establish clear IP ownership, put the right assignment and confidentiality agreements in place, and protect the technology the business is built on — so the company can prove it owns its core asset when it matters.

Book a consultation  ·  How we work

Why ownership is the whole game

Companies rarely lose their intellectual property in a dramatic way. They lose it quietly — a founder’s early code that was never assigned, a contractor who kept rights to what they built, a key tool licensed in on terms no one read closely. None of it shows up while the product is being built. All of it shows up the moment a buyer or an investor runs diligence, when a gap in title can cut the price or stall the deal. Getting ownership right early is what keeps the company’s IP an asset rather than a liability in waiting.

The questions worth settling early

A few decisions do most of the work here:

• Who owns the code. Every founder, employee, and contractor who builds something should assign it to the company in writing. A clean chain of title from the first line forward is what you’re protecting.
• What stays confidential. Confidentiality and invention-assignment agreements that actually hold up — so what people learn and create on the company’s time belongs to the company.
• What you keep secret versus register. Some things are trade secrets, protected by discipline; others belong in a trademark or copyright filing. We help you tell them apart and coordinate the registrations.
• What you actually own going into a round. Diligence finds gaps in title fast. We close them before the data room opens, not under deadline.

Where the judgment comes in

Software, licensing, and technology arrangements turn on the details — what was built by whom, what was licensed in, and what the company can grant out. We work through those questions and put the answers in agreements you can rely on. A standard set of assignments and confidentiality terms is well-defined; complex IP strategy and licensing structures are advisory work, handled directly — the same senior judgment a much larger firm would bring, applied by the lawyer responsible for your matter.

Who we work with

We act for founders making sure the company owns what they built, companies bringing on employees and contractors who need proper assignments, and growth companies closing title gaps before a financing or a sale. We also act on the IP and technology terms inside commercial deals — licences, development agreements, and SaaS arrangements. Whatever the stage, you work with the lawyer handling your matter.

How we work

• Large-firm experience, boutique focus. The depth of IP and technology work clients would expect from a much larger firm, delivered at a scale where they’re known rather than numbered.
• Senior attention, directly. You deal with the lawyer responsible for your matter, not a rotating team.
• Scoped, and clear on cost. We tell you what the work involves and what it will cost before it starts; where the documentation is standard, we can handle it at a fixed fee.
• Clear about scope. We focus on the corporate and commercial side of IP — ownership, assignment, licensing, and protection. If a matter becomes contentious, we’ll say so and point you to the right counsel rather than stretch to keep it.

Read how we work → 

Fixed-fee starting points

For the routine pieces, the work is well-defined and we offer it at a fixed fee: standard confidentiality and invention-assignment documentation for contractors and employees through our Build a Team Kit, and founder IP assignment as part of the Startup Kit. Anything beyond the standard documents — bespoke licensing, technology transactions, or a considered IP strategy — is advisory work.

Explore Workflow Kits → 

Common questions

• Does our code belong to the company? Only if everyone who built it has assigned it in writing — founders, employees, and contractors alike. Without that, rights can sit with the individual, not the company. We make sure the chain of title is clean.
• A contractor built part of our product — do we own it? Not automatically. Without a written assignment, a contractor can retain rights to what they created. We put the assignments in place so there’s no gap.
• Trade secret or registration? Some things are best protected by keeping them confidential and disciplined; others belong in a trademark or copyright filing. We help you tell them apart and coordinate the filings.
• What will investors check in diligence? Clean IP ownership: founder, employee, and contractor assignments, confidentiality in place, and nothing the company depends on sitting in someone else’s name. We close those gaps before the data room opens.
• Do you handle IP disputes or litigation? No — we’re a corporate and commercial firm. We focus on ownership, assignment, licensing, and protection, and if a contentious matter arises we’ll point you to the right litigation counsel.

What comes next

IP ownership underpins the commercial contracts the company signs, the founder IP assignment it starts with, the financing that will check title, and the sale where clean ownership protects the price. We can take each as it comes, or act as your ongoing corporate counsel across all of it.

Get the ownership right early, and the IP supports the company instead of complicating it.

Tell us what the company is building, and you’ll hear back from the lawyer who would handle it.

Book a consultation  · Have a question first?  Contact us