The impact of digital working on intellectual property and the licensing profession

Thomas Chartres-Moore, a Senior Associate from Stephens Scown’s intellectual property & IT team can be contacted on +44 1392 210700, solicitors@ stephens-scown co.uk or via www.stephens-scown.co.uk

Protecting intellectual property on collaborative online platforms

The coronavirus pandemic has forced a shift to more digital ways of working. For the licensing profession, where great care needs to be taken to ensure that intellectual property rights are protected, what are the risks associated with using online platforms to communicate, collaborate and share information? Thomas Chartres-Moore from the intellectual property and IT team at Stephens Scown LLP explains the issues. As people shift to a more digital way of working, we are finding that that IP owners are often making quick decisions about the platforms they use and in doing so, are putting their rights at risk, For example, many of the free online platforms used for collaboration operate on terms which give them an element of control over your IP or prevent you from commercialising it in the future. It is important to vet these platforms and consider the risks to your IP.

Online collaborative working – the risks to IP

Collaborative working platforms like Microsoft Teams and Dropbox have seen a huge increase in use since the start of lockdown. These platforms usually have quite lengthy terms and conditions of use, which many people don’t take the time to review. However, some platforms have clauses in their T&Cs which are important to understand. For example, Microsoft Teams has a clause in its terms which allows it to use, copy and distribute any content which is uploaded to its platform, whether in a public forum or privately. The user grants a licence for Microsoft to do this when agreeing to the Terms of Use. The consequence is that there is potential to lose ownership of that IP or it may be difficult to prove that the platform owner doesn’t have rights to the IP you are licensing to them, even if this is done unintentionally. The T&C’s of some platforms also grant the same license to the user you are providing the content to.

Steps to take

There are several steps you should take to protect your IP when working collaboratively online: 1. Take time to read the terms and conditions and terms of use of the platform and understand what you are agreeing to. If you don’t have time to do this, ask a solicitor to review it for you. This will help you find a platform where you know your content will be safe. 2. Have agreements in place with whoever you are collaborating with. It might be difficult to avoid the terms where they are particularly favourable to the platform operator, so the “belt and braces” approach would be to have some form of non-disclosure agreement in place with the other parties involved. 3. Avoid freely sharing content on public forums / open workspaces. The terms may not prevent other users of the platform from copying the content. 4. If you are really concerned, you could collaborate the old fashioned way using email. It may seem like a step backwards, but it is much less likely to result in an issue. Collaborative online workspaces have been brilliant for supporting remote working and helping us deal with the challenges brought on by lockdown, but users should still be wary of them. There are ways to ensure that you use them in a safe way which doesn’t risk your intellectual property. If you’re worried about controlling your content (as you should be), make sure you take the necessary precautions.