# Intellectual property

Concept · [Business and metrics](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/business)

Also called: IP, IP assignment, copyright, trademark, patent

Things you create that can be owned, such as code, designs, brand names and inventions. For a startup the key question is whether the company, and not one individual, owns what was built.

**For example:** A [contractor](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/contractor-vs-employee) builds your app. Your written agreement says the company owns the code once the work is paid for. Without that, [ownership](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/equity) can be unclear.

## Connects to (25)

- [Contractor vs employee](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/contractor-vs-employee): A contractor is an outside person or firm you pay for a defined piece of work, and they decide how to do it.
- [Open source](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/open-source): Software whose code is published for anyone to read, use and build on, under a license that sets the rules for doing so.
- [Due diligence](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/due-diligence): The checking an investor or buyer does before committing money: reviewing your finances, legal documents, product and the claims you have…
- [Trade secret](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/trade-secret): Valuable business information, such as a formula, algorithm or process, that is protected by keeping it secret rather than by registering…
- [Non-provisional patent](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/non-provisional-patent): The full US patent application that the patent office actually examines.
- [Licensing](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/licensing): Letting another party use something you own, such as software, a patent or a brand, in exchange for fees or royalties, while you keep…
- [Hard tech](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/hard-tech): Companies whose product rests on physical engineering or new science, such as machines, materials or devices.
- [Open source hardware](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/open-source-hardware): Physical products whose design files are published so anyone can study, change, make and sell the design or hardware based on it.
- [Terms of service](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/terms-of-service): The legal agreement between a service and the people who use it.
- [Offer letter](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/offer-letter): A written job offer to the chosen candidate.
- [Moonlighting](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/moonlighting): Doing paid work on the side, outside a full-time job.
- [OSU New Product Development Center](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/osu-new-product-development-center): An engineering outreach unit of Oklahoma State University that helps Oklahoma inventors and small manufacturers develop new products.
- [Central Library Business Center](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/tulsa-library-business-center): A free service of the Tulsa City-County Library at the downtown Central Library.
- [Audio stem](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/audio-stem): One part of a song exported as its own audio file, such as only the drums or only the vocals, so others can remix or mix it.
- [NDA](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/nda): Non-disclosure agreement.
- [Joint development agreement](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/joint-development-agreement): A contract between two organizations that build something together.
- [Moat](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/moat): An advantage that makes it hard for competitors to copy your business or take your customers, such as unique data, network effects or high…
- [Spinout](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/spinout): A new, separate company created from part of an existing company, university or lab, often taking a product, team or technology with it.
- [Prior art](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/prior-art): Anything public before a patent was filed, such as earlier patents, papers or products, that shows the idea was already known.
- [Notice of allowance](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/notice-of-allowance): A notice from the patent or trademark office that an application has been approved, pending final fees or steps.
- [Common Paper](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/common-paper): A contract company for startups that publishes free, standard agreements anyone may use and modify, along with software for sending…
- [Track One](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/track-one): A US Patent and Trademark Office option to pay extra fees so a utility or plant patent application gets prioritized examination.
- [Black Dog Law](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/black-dog-law): A Tulsa intellectual property law firm that helps inventors, creators and founders with patents, trademarks, copyrights, licensing and…
- [Oklahoma Bar Association](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/oklahoma-bar-association): The association of lawyers in Oklahoma, based at the Oklahoma Bar Center in Oklahoma City.
- [Master services agreement](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/master-services-agreement): A contract that sets the general terms between a client and a provider once (payment, ownership of the work, confidentiality, liability)…

Map view: https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/intellectual-property