{"id":29150,"date":"2019-07-16T10:19:50","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T02:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zegal.com\/?p=29150"},"modified":"2023-01-18T13:48:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T05:48:00","slug":"hiring-consultants-who-owns-the-intellectual-property","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zegal.com\/en-hk\/blog\/post\/hiring-consultants-who-owns-the-intellectual-property\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiring Consultants \u2013 Who owns the Intellectual Property?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"E47\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-29394\" src=\"https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/business-idea-diagram-innovation-40218-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/business-idea-diagram-innovation-40218-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/business-idea-diagram-innovation-40218-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/business-idea-diagram-innovation-40218-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/business-idea-diagram-innovation-40218-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/business-idea-diagram-innovation-40218-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/business-idea-diagram-innovation-40218-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 639px) 98vw, (max-width: 1199px) 64vw, 770px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"E54\"><span id=\"E55\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">The value of intellectual properties goes without saying.<\/span><span id=\"E55\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> In the modern age of <\/span><span id=\"E57\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">information, each<\/span><span id=\"E59\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> and every person walking on the street or scrolling through social media is constantly being bombarded by information and advertisements.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"E59\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> It isn\u2019t easy for a company\u2019s advertisements to stand out amongst the flood of logos and ads, and businesses must devote significant resources to figure out what will capture consumers\u2019 attentions. They may be catchy slogans and names, other times logos, and cool inventions. But with a company&#8217;s growth comes difficulties. The CEO of Nike couldn\u2019t possibly design every pair of <\/span><span id=\"E61\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">sneaker<\/span><span id=\"E63\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> himself, and Elon Musk couldn\u2019t design every product under the Tesla name and build all of them himself. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"E63\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">These businesses only function with professional graphics designers, engineers, software developers etc. to perform their roles for the company. As such, it makes sense for businesses to take great care when hiring professionals to generate intellectual property. Otherwise they may find themselves having accidentally funded a developer to create something for themselves, instead of for their own business, as they had intended.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"E65\"><span id=\"E67\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">You must first think about who is this professional? Is he an employee, or is he a contractor to whom work is outsourced? <\/span><\/p>\n<h4 id=\"E69\"><span id=\"E70\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">Employee<\/span><\/h4>\n<p id=\"E71\"><span id=\"E73\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">Generally speaking, the<\/span><span id=\"E75\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> work products created by an employee belongs to the employer by default. <strong>Section 14 of the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528)<\/strong>, for instance, expressly stipulates that work subjects <\/span><span id=\"E76\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">\u201c<\/span><em><span id=\"E77\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">made by an employee in the course of his employment<\/span><\/em><span id=\"E78\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">\u201d<\/span><span id=\"E79\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> belong to his\/her employer, <\/span><span id=\"E80\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">unless there is<\/span><span id=\"E81\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> a<\/span><span id=\"E82\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">ny agreement to the contrary. <\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"E84\"><span id=\"E86\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">That being said, a<\/span><span id=\"E88\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> prudent employer should ensure that the<a href=\"https:\/\/zegal.com\/employment-contract\/\"> employment contract<\/a> nevertheless expressly addresses the topic of ownership. There should be provisions requiring an employee to endorse documents that are <\/span><span id=\"E89\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">necessary<\/span><span id=\"E90\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> to record and prove the employer\u2019s ownership and title of the IP generated by the employee. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"E90\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">The employer should also be mindful of the \u201c<em>course of employment<\/em>\u201d requirement: be wary of asking an employee to design or come up with something for the company if this is not expressly stipulated in his or her employment contract, as that would afford room for the employee to argue that his product was not generated in the course of employment. Thus meaning that it belongs to the employee, not the employer. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"E91\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> <\/span><span id=\"E92\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">It follows that the default rule that an employee<\/span><span id=\"E93\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">\u2019<\/span><span id=\"E94\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">s work belongs to his employer is not always a complete assurance<\/span><span id=\"E95\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">, and the employer should still be mindful of how he might accidentally strip himself of the default position\u2019s protection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-29388\" src=\"https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/adults-business-people-businessmen-1586525-1024x730.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"730\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/adults-business-people-businessmen-1586525-1024x730.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/adults-business-people-businessmen-1586525-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/adults-business-people-businessmen-1586525-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/adults-business-people-businessmen-1586525-640x456.jpg 640w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/adults-business-people-businessmen-1586525-1200x856.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/adults-business-people-businessmen-1586525-1920x1369.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 639px) 98vw, (max-width: 1199px) 64vw, 770px\" \/><\/p>\n<h4 id=\"E96\"><span id=\"E97\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">Contractor <\/span><\/h4>\n<p id=\"E99\"><span id=\"E100\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">The default position for a contractor is the <strong>reverse of the position for the employee<\/strong>: absent any express contractual agreements, the works generated by a contractor <strong>belong to him or her<\/strong>, not the company<\/span><span id=\"E101\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">. This position means that if the employer has participated in the creation of the IP, this would result in a shared co-ownership of the IP. <\/span><\/p>\n<h4 id=\"E103\"><span id=\"E104\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">What A Business Can Do <\/span><\/h4>\n<p id=\"E105\"><span id=\"E106\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">If the professional is working as an employee, the employer should pay <\/span><span id=\"E108\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">particular attention<\/span><span id=\"E110\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> to the scope of work as agreed in the employment contract as discussed above. If the professional is a contractor, it becomes necessary to consider how the co-ownership should be managed: what rights are enjoyed by the owner and the non-owner? This should also be accounted for. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"E113\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">Further, businesses should<\/span><span id=\"E114\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> consider whether it should request the <\/span><span id=\"E115\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">contractor<\/span><span class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> to license or assign the IP rights to the business. Being licensed confers upon the employer the rights to use the IP. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/zegal.com\/trade-mark-licence-agreement\/\">license agreement<\/a> would set out what the <\/span><span class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">business is entitled to do with the IP, but the ownership of the IP ultimately remains with the creator. <\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"E118\"><span id=\"E119\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">Conversely, an assignment means that the business purchases the rights to and ownership of the IP. The purchase price would be a one-off lump sum, so obviously the consideration paid would be greater. Whether a licensing or an assignment would be more <\/span><span id=\"E121\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">favourable<\/span><span id=\"E123\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> for the business is an entirely commercial decision to be made by the business after weighing the options.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-29401\" src=\"https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/kristina-flour-BcjdbyKWquw-unsplash-1024x655.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"655\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/kristina-flour-BcjdbyKWquw-unsplash-1024x655.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/kristina-flour-BcjdbyKWquw-unsplash-300x192.jpg 300w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/kristina-flour-BcjdbyKWquw-unsplash-768x491.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/kristina-flour-BcjdbyKWquw-unsplash-640x409.jpg 640w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/kristina-flour-BcjdbyKWquw-unsplash-1200x768.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/zegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/kristina-flour-BcjdbyKWquw-unsplash-1920x1228.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 639px) 98vw, (max-width: 1199px) 64vw, 770px\" \/><\/p>\n<h4 id=\"E125\"><span id=\"E126\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">Trade Secrets <\/span><\/h4>\n<p id=\"E127\"><span id=\"E128\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">In the course of carrying out their duties, employees and contractors may be exposed to the business\u2019 trade secrets. It would obviously be in the business\u2019 interests to ensure that such secrets remain secrets<\/span><span id=\"E129\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">. This is especially so in cases of contractors, as the work they generate <\/span><span id=\"E130\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">whilst having access to trade secrets are ultimately their own properties. <\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"E132\"><span id=\"E133\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">In order to enhance protection of trade secrets, businesses are recommended to start with the employment contract or <a href=\"https:\/\/zegal.com\/consultancy-agreement\/\">consulting agreement<\/a>. Watertight<a href=\"https:\/\/zegal.com\/non-disclosure-agreement\/\"> non-disclosure clauses<\/a> should be added into the agreement in order to lengthen the period of protection. <\/span><span id=\"E136\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">Of course, the business should also discuss with the employee \/ consultant the importance of the trade secret to the company, and expressly stipulate that the professional is not allowed to make use of such trade secrets for the benefit of entities aside from the business. <\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"E139\"><span id=\"E140\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">Given the potential value of intellectual properties, it only makes sense for companies to devote proportionate amounts of effort and caution to ensure that they retain what should be theirs. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"E140\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">Companies should be very careful with their employment contracts or other agreements, not only because <\/span><span id=\"E141\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">contra proferentem (the interpretation of an ambiguous contract against the party which proposed or drafted the contract)<\/span><span id=\"E142\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> but also because of the value of what is at stake.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h5><span id=\"E142\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> An employment contract, like in many other situations, operates as the business\u2019 most useful tool in defining the ambits of the parties\u2019 rights and obligations, and in this <\/span><span id=\"E143\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\">context, <\/span><span id=\"E144\" class=\"qowt-font4-Arial\"> it is highly recommended for companies to pay extra attention to the question of IP rights and ownership. <\/span><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><i>This article does not constitute legal advice.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><i>The opinions expressed in the column above represent the author\u2019s own.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zegal.com\/\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Start managing your legal needs with Zegal today<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zegal.com\/blog\/post\/good-business-idea-how-to-protect-it-through-intellectual-property-rights\/\">READ MORE: Good Business Idea? How To Protect It Through Intellectual Property Rights<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The value of intellectual properties goes without saying. In the modern age of information, each and every person walking on the street or scrolling through social media is constantly being bombarded by information and advertisements. It isn\u2019t easy for a company\u2019s advertisements to stand out amongst the flood of logos and ads, and businesses must [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":29394,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14277,46],"tags":[8007,68,10307],"usecases":[13728],"businesstypes":[],"country":[],"class_list":["post-29150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hr-and-employment","category-ip","tag-consultant","tag-intellectual-property","tag-z-syndicate","usecases-appoint-a-consultant"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.8 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hiring Consultants \u2013 Who owns the Intellectual Property? | Zegal Hong Kong<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It might surprise you to know who has rights to the intellectual property when your business hires an independant contractor. 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