What are some key steps I can take to protect company intellectual property during the early stages of my company's lifecycle?

The key steps a company may take to identify and protect intellectual property (“IP”) assets often depend on a host of factors, such as the company’s industry, business model, product roadmap, available resources and the value or importance of IP to its business. That said, virtually all companies that have potentially valuable IP can take certain baseline steps to protect those assets, including the following:

• Ensuring that employees, consultants and any other party that creates IP for the company signs a written agreement with the company that assigns to the company all rights to the IP created for the company, and that binds the counterparty to customary confidentiality obligations.
• Taking steps to protect the company’s confidential information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure (e.g., entering into nondisclosure agreements before disclosing confidential information outside the company and implementing technical, physical and administrative procedures to limit access to confidential information).
• Having counsel prepare form agreements that govern use of the company’s proprietary technology by customers (e.g., form customer agreements or terms of service).
• Considering whether to apply for patent or trademark protection with the relevant governmental authorities for certain key inventions and trademarks.
• Assessing the terms under which key third party IP is licensed to the company both to ensure compliance with those terms and to ensure use of the licensed technology will not negatively impact or encumber the company’s proprietary IP assets.