magnus919_agent-skills/legal-strategy/references/ip-strategy.md

IP Strategy — Patents, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, and Open Source Licensing

Patent Strategy

Types of Patents

Type	Duration	Subject matter	Example
Utility patent	20 years from filing	Processes, machines, articles of manufacture, compositions of matter	Software algorithm, hardware device
Design patent	15 years (US)	Ornamental design of a functional item	Icon design, product shape
Provisional patent	12 months (placeholder)	Establishes priority date, doesn't become a patent automatically	"Patent pending" status

Patent Filing Strategy

Strategy	When to use	Example
Defensive filing	Core technology you want to protect	Foundational algorithm
Offensive filing	Blocking competitors in key areas	Patent thicket around a technology domain
Landscape filling	Identify gaps in competitor portfolios and file there	Adjacent use cases competitors haven't claimed
Standard-essential	Technology required by an industry standard	5G, Wi-Fi, video codecs

The Patent Process

Disclosure → Prior art search → Drafting → Filing → Examination → Grant/Maintenance
                                                                         ↓
                                                                Patent pools / licensing / enforcement

Key decision: Trade secret vs patent. Patents require public disclosure; trade secrets can last indefinitely. If the technology can be reverse-engineered with moderate effort, patent. If the secret can be kept (Coca-Cola formula, Google PageRank algorithm), consider trade secret.

Trademark Strategy

Trademark Types

Type	Examples	Protection
Word mark	"Google," "Apple"	The word itself, in any stylization
Design mark	Nike swoosh, Apple logo	The visual design
Sound mark	Intel jingle, MGM lion roar	Sonic brand identity
Trade dress	Coca-Cola bottle shape, Tiffany blue	Product appearance or packaging

Trademark Clearance

Before adopting a mark, conduct:

1. Screening search — Internal database, general web search
2. Full availability search — USPTO / EUIPO trademark database
3. Common law search — Business registries, domain names, social media handles
4. International search — Madrid Protocol if filing in multiple jurisdictions

Risk levels:

Finding	Risk	Action
No conflicting marks	Low	Proceed
Conflicting mark in different class/geography	Medium	File with careful monitoring
Direct conflict with active mark in same class	High	Abandon or acquire

Trade Secret Management

Legal Requirements (US — DTSA / State Law)

A trade secret must:

1. Have independent economic value from not being generally known
2. Be subject to reasonable measures to maintain secrecy

Reasonable Secrecy Measures

Measure	Implementation
Access controls	Need-to-know basis, role-based permissions, physical locks
NDAs	Employee, contractor, and partner non-disclosure agreements
Exit procedures	Return of materials, reminder of ongoing obligations, access revocation
Labeling	Clearly mark "CONFIDENTIAL — Trade Secret" on documents
Training	Annual training on trade secret handling
Segmentation	Compartmentalize — no one person knows the whole secret
Audit trails	Log access to trade secret repositories

Litigation Risks

• Inevitable disclosure doctrine — Former employee's new role inevitably requires disclosing trade secrets (injunction available in some jurisdictions)
• Reverse engineering — Legal unless prohibited by contract; cannot protect against it with trade secret law alone

Open Source Licensing

License Categories

Category	Examples	Requirements	Commercial implications
Permissive	MIT, Apache 2.0, BSD	Attribution only	Can use in proprietary products
Weak copyleft	LGPL, MPL, EPL	Modifications to the library itself must be open-sourced	Can link from proprietary code
Strong copyleft	GPL 2.0/3.0, AGPL	Derivative works must be open-sourced under same license	Usually incompatible with proprietary products
Network copyleft	AGPL	Software accessed over a network must be distributed with source	Affects SaaS companies

Strategic Decisions

Decision	Consideration
Why open source?	Community adoption, talent attraction, commoditize complement, standards setting
License choice	Permissive for maximum adoption; copyleft to prevent proprietary forks
CLA (Contributor License Agreement)	Required for corporate projects to relicense later
Dual licensing	Open source (GPL) + commercial license for proprietary users (Qt, MySQL model)
Trademark policy	Prevent confusion: who can use the project name/logo

Open Source Compliance

Process	Description
SBOM generation	Software Bill of Materials — list every dependency and its license
License scanning	Automated tools (FOSSA, Black Duck, Snyk) to detect license obligations
Policy creation	Approved licenses list, obligation matrix, approval workflow for exceptions
Distribution compliance	Include license notices, provide source code on request (GPL)
Audit readiness	Maintain a compliance artifact: notices file, source code archive, obligation log

IP Portfolio Management

The IP Lifecycle

Creation → Protection → Maintenance → Monetization
                                      ↓
                                 Licensing / Sale / Enforcement

IP Budget Allocation

% of Budget	Category	Activity
40-50%	Defensive core	Patent filing for core technology, trademark registration
20-30%	Offensive/IP landscape	Competitive blocking, freedom-to-operate analysis
15-20%	Maintenance	Renewal fees, trademark renewal, portfolio pruning
10-15%	Enforcement	Cease-and-desist, licensing negotiations, litigation