| "Work For Hire Agreement" Or "Non-Disclosure Agreement" Or Both - Freelancer? | |
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Hi, If I’m the creator of the product concept I have, but I hire a freelancer who helps me design/engineer my product; what document would be best to have in place before starting the project this way I retain rights on the product? “Work For Hire Agreement” or “Non-Disclosure Agreement” or Both? Thank you, olimits7 |
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Hey Roger, your infinity points look good on you! Are you still allowed to enter LPS’s now? Did you ever? Congratulations again on making the EN team! I totally agree with Roger on this one. It doesn’t hurt to get both signed. I’ve been on both ends of the equation since I freelance and invent myself and I’m fine with the papers either way. Anyone who isn’t is not someone you want doing work for you. |
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Hi Roger, Thanks for your reply… I guess if a freelancer doesn’t mind signing an “NDA”, then it wouldn’t hurt to also have them sign a “Work For Hire” as well. I see that you have some samples of "NDA"s on your http://www.rogerbrown.net website; would you have any “Work For Hire” samples that you could email me? Thank you, olimits7 |
 
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Generally you want both. If you hire a person to do your sell sheets, fabricate a part used in your product, etc you want to make sure it is a work for hire. You pay them a flat fee and that is the end of their involvement with the project/product. You want the ownership to stay yours and for them to accept that what you are showing them is in confidence and not to be disclosed. Getting both signed also keeps it from being declared public exposure. |
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Thanks again…yeah, I will definitely talk to a patent attorney regarding my questions but just trying to get a general understanding first. Thanks again… olimits7 |
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Work for hire agreements are typically used for copyrights, not for patents. Again you just need to get an employment contract and you can throw in the IP clause. Along with this you should include a confidentiality clause. This is all advice from a student, so again I would advise you to talk to a patent attorney, it seems like you have a lot of questions. |
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So an “NDA” agreement alone would be sufficient as long as I include an “IP clause” that states any freelancer work in product design/engineering/etc will still belong to me? And this would ommit me from having a freelancer need to sign a “Work For Hire” agreement as well? Thank you, olimits7 |
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You can draft any type of employment contract you want. The best advice I can give you is that you have some sort of IP clause that states any IP including patents are assigned to you or your company. It’s a common clause in many employment contracts for scientists, etc… |