What is “intellectual property” (IP)?
Intellectual property (IP) is the legal category for intangible creations of the mind — inventions, designs, brands, expressive works, trade secrets — protected by law against unauthorised use. The four main categories are patents (inventions), copyrights (expressive works), trademarks (brand identifiers) and trade secrets (confidential business information). For startups, IP is often the primary asset, particularly in deep-tech, biotech, content, and software.
The four IP categories
- Patents: protect novel, non-obvious inventions. 20-year exclusivity from filing. Filed with national patent offices (USPTO, Türk Patent ve Marka Kurumu).
- Copyrights: protect expressive works (software, content, art). Automatic on creation; registration enhances protection.
- Trademarks: protect brand identifiers (names, logos, slogans). Filed with trademark offices; renewable indefinitely.
- Trade secrets: protect confidential business information that derives value from secrecy. No registration; protected by NDAs and reasonable safeguards.
Startup IP best practices
- IP assignment from day one: all founders and employees assign work-product IP to the company in writing.
- Trademark registration: register company name and core product names in primary markets early.
- Patent strategy: file provisional patents on key innovations; balance protection cost against disclosure risk.
- Trade-secret protocols: NDAs with employees, vendors, and partners; access controls on sensitive information.
- Open-source compliance: track open-source dependencies and license obligations.
The startup’s core risk: does the company actually own its IP?
For a technology company, intellectual property is usually the most valuable asset — and the most common place where ownership quietly breaks. By default, code written by a founder before incorporation, work done by an unassigned contractor, or contributions from an early collaborator may belong to those individuals, not the company. That is why investors insist on proper IP assignment (often via a PIIA — a proprietary information and inventions agreement) from every founder, employee and contractor, transferring all relevant rights to the company. Beyond ownership, a startup should know which assets are registrable (trademarks, patents, designs) versus protected automatically (copyright, trade secrets), and must watch open-source licence terms, because a “copyleft” licence in the codebase can impose obligations that surprise an acquirer during diligence.