IP scan: find the gaps before others do
To secure the best possible protection for intellectual property we offer an IP scan. Where gaps in protection become visible, we give recommendations for action.
Intellectual property arises in companies continuously and often as a by-product: a new product name, a reworked logo, software developed in house, a database, a process nobody outside the building knows. Whether protected rights exist in any of it, and who holds them, tends to be settled in practice only when it is too late.
What we look at
- Trademarks and other signs, both registered and in use
- Designs
- Copyright in software, text, image and video
- Trade secrets and the measures taken to keep them secret
- Domains and accounts on platforms
- Contracts with employees, agencies and freelancers
How the scan runs
Step 1: Taking stock
Together with you we record which rights exist, which are actually in use and what contractual basis there is for them.
Step 2: Comparison
We compare the portfolio against what your business actually does. That regularly reveals both: rights nobody needs any more, and areas with no protection at all.
Step 3: Recommendations
You receive a written evaluation setting out the gaps identified and an order in which it makes sense for you to close them.
Two gaps that come up particularly often
The first concerns commissioned work. Under German law copyright itself stays with the author and cannot be transferred. What is transferred are rights of use, and only to the extent the contract expressly provides. Anyone who had a logo, website or software produced externally therefore often holds fewer rights than they assume.
The second concerns trade secrets. Statutory protection presupposes reasonable steps to keep the information secret. Without them there is no trade secret in the first place.
Do you know which rights you actually hold?
The IP scan gives you an overview and an order for the next steps.
Request an IP scanFrequently asked questions
Who owns works created by our employees?
Copyright itself stays with the person who created the work, because under section 29(1) of the German Copyright Act it cannot be transferred. Only rights of use can pass, and what passes is determined first of all by the employment contract or a collective agreement. Where nothing is settled, section 43 UrhG directs that the law on copyright contracts applies to the employment relationship, unless its content or nature requires otherwise. The scope of the rights then granted by implication follows from the purpose of the contract, section 31(5) UrhG. For computer programs, section 69b(1) UrhG assigns the economic rights directly to the employer where the program was created in the performance of duties or on the employer's instructions and nothing else has been agreed.
What counts as reasonable steps to keep information secret?
Whatever matches the value of the information and the size of the business, section 2 no. 1(b) of the German Trade Secrets Act. In practice this includes graduated access rights, confidentiality agreements with staff and service providers, marking confidential documents, technical safeguards and a record of those measures. A single building block rarely suffices, what counts is the overall picture.
Is an IP scan the same as a trademark search?
No. A trademark search looks outward and clarifies whether a planned sign is available. The IP scan looks inward and clarifies which rights exist in the business, who holds them and where they are missing. The two complement each other but do not replace each other.
When is an IP scan worthwhile?
Ahead of events in which the portfolio matters. These include an investor joining, a succession, entry into a new market, a rebranding and the outsourcing of development. In those situations the portfolio is examined anyway, only then by the other side.