Intellectual property assignment

A written agreement transferring ownership of intellectual property, such as code or designs, from its creator to a company.

Example

A contractor signing over rights to the software they built for a startup.

Without it, work by contractors or founders before incorporation may not belong to the company.

Open-source licence — The terms under which open-source software may be used, modified and distributed, ranging from permissive licences to copyleft licences with sharing obligations.
Representations and warranties — The statements of fact a seller formally makes in a transaction document, which the buyer is entitled to rely on and can claim against if untrue.

The company's name and inventions may already belong to someone else — Legal IP diligence checks registered rights such as trademarks and patents, and looks for claims by founders' former employers or universities over work the company relies on. (10 min)
The company must own its code and follow the licences it uses — Technical diligence confirms that everyone who wrote the product assigned their rights to the company, and that open-source components are used in ways their licences allow. (10 min)