The home office

As the Covid-19 pandemic crisis deepens, Charles F Hauff Jr and R Lee Fraley explore the impact on IP ownership as more people switch to remote working

Charles F Hauff, Jr and R Lee Fraley, Snell & Wilmer’s Phoenix office

Intellectual property (IP) ownership can be one of the most misunderstood and elusive issues that businesses need to resolve. Many individuals and businesses assume, often incorrectly, that they own all rights in any IP related to their business simply because they purchased content or paid a third party to complete a task for them. In addition, those same individuals and entities may also mistakenly believe that just because a person “works” for them or their business, they own any, and all IP that such person creates or invents. However, determining ownership of the subject IP ownership, in many instances, is often very nuanced, and such determinations and nuances may be exacerbated by current common remote working environments.