Innovation often relies on collaborations between operational companies and outsourced development specialists. Companies are increasingly turning to external software and hardware developers to build proprietary systems. However, a recurring legal oversight threatens to compromise these investments: unclear intellectual property (IP) ownership.
Drawing from practical experience, we address how companies can structure engagements to ensure that IP rights, particularly in software source code, firmware, technical drawings, and designs, vest in the company commissioning the work.
The Threefold Nature of Product Development
Many modern product ecosystems comprise three integrated components:
- Hardware: Physical components such as sensors, control units, or printed circuit boards (PCBs).
- Firmware: Embedded programming that enables the hardware to operate.
- Software/Dashboards: The visual interface or cloud platform through which data is monitored, displayed, or transmitted.
When engaging a third-party developer or design house, companies must ensure that their contractual framework addresses each of these layers. This is especially crucial when the products are destined for critical, safety-sensitive environments.
Why IP Assignment Is Essential
A common misconception is that payment for a service automatically confers ownership of the deliverables. In South African law (and in most jurisdictions), the default position under copyright law is that the creator of a work retains copyright unless there is a written assignment. This applies to:
- Software code
- Technical drawings and schematics
- Firmware designs
- Engineering models and prototypes
Without a clear intellectual property assignment agreement, the commissioning company may merely have a licence to use the output, not true ownership. This poses significant risks in terms of:
- Preventing the developer from reproducing or re-selling similar systems.
- The ability to onboard a new supplier if the original developer becomes unavailable.
- Enforcing rights in disputes or in cases of commercial exploitation.
Best Practices for Securing IP Rights
To avoid uncertainty and future disputes, the following principles should guide the IP structuring of any outsourced development project:
1. Define Foreground and Background IP
Contracts should distinguish between:
- Background IP: The developer's pre-existing tools, code libraries, templates, or know-how. These usually remain the property of the developer.
- Foreground IP: All inventions, materials, and works created during the engagement and as a result of the project brief. These should be assigned to the client.
2. Clear Assignment Clauses
The agreement must contain unambiguous language assigning all rights, title and interest in the deliverables, including but not limited to software, source code, firmware, drawings, models, specifications, and designs.
3. Non-Circumvention and Exclusivity
To protect the business value of the innovation:
- Include a non-circumvention clause preventing the developer from replicating or marketing the system to third parties.
- If applicable, include non-compete or exclusivity provisions in limited, defined markets.
Considerations in Multi-Party Arrangements
In cases where development is commissioned by one company but financed by another (e.g. in commercial trials or co-funded innovations), care must be taken to define:
- The ownership model (joint vs full assignment)
- The right to commercialise or adapt the final system
- Licensing back any essential use rights to the funder or collaborators
A tri-party agreement may be warranted to avoid ambiguity and mitigate future claims.
Drawings and Design Ownership
When it comes to technical drawings, 3D models, and engineering schematics, copyright still vests in the author, often the individual draftsman or engineer, not the company that paid for the work.
Unless the individual was:
- An employee creating the drawing in the course of employment; or
- Bound by a contract assigning the copyright
then they retain the rights to the drawings.
If these drawings are then handed over to a manufacturing house who amends them or develops tooling from them, this gives rise to a derivative work, creating its own set of rights, usually owned by the modifying party unless otherwise agreed.
The practical effect? Without an upfront assignment of copyright, you may find yourself legally locked out of accessing or reproducing your own product design.
Outsourcing development is often a commercial necessity, but without clear agreements in place, your company may fund the creation of valuable IP that it does not own. Your investment must be matched with proper legal foundations. Assigning IP through detailed, enforceable agreements is not an administrative burden, it is a commercial imperative.
Before giving a go-ahead to any development, ensure your IP is contractually secured, and that your agreements reflect your strategic need for control, continuity, and exclusivity.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
