Intellectual property

How MB Legal helps

IP ownership frameworks for employees and contractors, software and content licensing, and portfolio management. Getting ownership right at the start (in the employment agreement, in the contractor SOW, in the assignment) is what keeps a company from discovering years later that it does not own the code or the brand it built its business on.

We manage the IP portfolio and coordinate registration counsel on filings, so trademark and other registrations get handled by the specialist who files them while the ownership terms, licensing, and enforcement strategy stay with the counsel who knows the business. That coordination extends to the IP terms buried in vendor and AI-tool agreements, where the question of who owns the output often goes unasked until it matters.

When someone trades on your name, we handle enforcement: takedown and abuse reports, domain disputes and UDRP proceedings, and demand letters that get responses. The goal is a proportionate response that protects the mark without turning a nuisance into a lawsuit.

What the work covers

Ownership of employee- and contractor-created work

Copyright and invention ownership do not automatically follow the paycheck. Work an independent contractor creates belongs to the contractor unless a written agreement says otherwise, and employee work can raise questions too when it falls outside the job or predates it. We prepare assignment provisions for employment agreements, IP terms for contractor and development agreements, and standalone assignments when a gap needs closing after the fact.

Software and technology licensing

When your software or technology goes into someone else’s hands, the license decides what they can do with it. We draft and review software licenses, SaaS and API terms, and agreements that bring existing technology into a new product, with attention to what is licensed, for what purpose, for how long, and what happens to improvements.

Content and creative licensing

Brand assets, photography, video, written content, and music each carry their own rights questions, especially when a project combines work from several sources. We review and prepare content licenses, production and talent terms, and the permissions a campaign or product needs before it launches.

Customer ownership provisions

Customer agreements often ask for ownership of “all work product.” For a company that reuses its own tools and methods across customers, that clause needs care. We revise ownership provisions so the customer receives the rights it needs in its deliverables while your existing technology and know-how stay yours.

Internal IP disclosure

Companies whose people build tools, scripts, and improvements as part of their work benefit from a simple process for recording what was created, by whom, and on what terms. We help design internal disclosure procedures and the licensing terms that go with them, so ownership is documented as the work happens.

Confidentiality and trade secrets

Some of a company’s most valuable information is protected only by how it is handled. We prepare confidentiality terms for employees, contractors, and business partners, and review how sensitive information is shared and marked, so the protections in the documents match day-to-day practice.

Brand misuse and impersonation

Imposter domains, copied websites, and misleading uses of a company’s name call for a measured response. We assess the situation, prepare abuse reports and correspondence, and plan next steps, including domain-dispute options where they fit.

Coordinating with registration counsel

Trademark and other registrations are filed by counsel who handle those filings regularly. We coordinate with registration counsel on clearance and filing strategy and keep the ownership terms, licenses, and enforcement plan aligned with the business.

Why MB Legal

Brand and IP work sits next to the commercial and technology contracts we already handle for growing companies, so the ownership terms in your agreements and the marks you are trying to protect get looked at together rather than in separate silos. The company that gets ownership right in its employment agreements, its contractor SOWs, and its vendor terms rarely has to litigate who owns what later, which is where the real cost of an IP problem shows up.