IP agreements and contract law: Building dispute-resistant commercial foundations
IP agreements and contract law form the essential legal infrastructure that governs how your business's intangible assets are created, used, and protected.
This practice area encompasses all non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), collaboration contracts, joint venture agreements, development contracts, and IP-specific warranties.
These documents are the lifeblood of commercial relationships, and if they are ambiguous or poorly drafted, they can become a primary source of costly and disruptive disputes.
IP agreements and contract law: How we assist you
We move beyond template agreements to provide strategic contractual architecture.
Our assistance ensures that every commercial document is meticulously aligned with your long-term business goals, safeguarding your intellectual property (IP) at every touchpoint, now and into the future.
We provide a full-service approach, from initial negotiation support to the final drafting and execution of highly complex agreements.
Our focus is on clarity and enforceability, ensuring the commercial intent is unambiguously reflected in the legal text.
Our unique capability in this area
Our firm’s unique strength is rooted in our extensive experience litigating contractual disputes.
We don't just draft contracts; we engineer them to withstand challenge.
We know the exact pressure points, ambiguities, and loopholes that are exploited in court, and we proactively close them down during the drafting stage.
- Dispute-resistant drafting: We structure agreements with precise, litigation-tested clauses covering IP ownership, licensing scope, payment triggers, and dispute resolution mechanisms, drastically reducing the lifetime risk of the contract.
- Commercial alignment: We ensure the legal structure of the contract actively supports and enables the commercial objective, providing flexibility for growth and scale while maintaining robust control over your core IP assets.
- Full lifecycle support: We advise on agreements across the entire IP lifecycle, including research and development (R&D) contracts, manufacturing agreements, software-as-a-service (SaaS) terms, and exit-strategy IP warranties.
IP agreements and contract law: Common questions and answers
What is the most common IP mistake made in standard commercial contracts?
The most common mistake is the failure to include clear assignment or licensing clauses for background and foreground IP.
If a services contract doesn't explicitly state who owns the IP created during the project (foreground) and how the parties can use pre-existing IP (background), disputes over ownership and infringement become inevitable and highly complex.
Why is a specialist IP firm better for drafting an NDA than a general solicitor?
A general NDA often focuses only on confidentiality. A specialist IP firm ensures the NDA includes robust clauses that govern ownership of any new IP created during the confidential disclosure, specific remedies for breach, and a clear definition of what constitutes confidential information beyond standard industry knowledge.
This transforms the document from a generic warning into a powerful defensive tool - providing certainty to what happens in an adverse scenario.
Can you review and fix the existing contracts we use with suppliers and partners?
Yes. A contractual IP audit is one of our key services. We systematically review your existing suite of commercial agreements to identify and remediate any defective IP clauses, ownership ambiguities, or weak dispute resolution mechanisms.
This ensures your existing commercial foundations are dispute-ready and protect your core assets.
How does your firm ensure clarity regarding international contracts?
For contracts with international parties, we meticulously define the governing law and jurisdiction (e.g. designating UK law and High Court jurisdiction) for the agreement.
We also ensure that the definition of IP aligns with the legal systems where the IP is registered, minimising conflict-of-law issues that can destroy or limit enforcement capacity.
Ready to build a robust legal infrastructure?
Don't let ambiguous contracts jeopardise your business success. Use the calendar below to arrange a strategic consultation with our team to discuss how we can build dispute-resistant commercial foundations for your IP.
The content on this page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No solicitor-client relationship is created by your use of this site. While we strive to ensure the information is accurate and up-to-date, it should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal counsel. For specific advice regarding your legal situation, please contact us directly to arrange a consultation.
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