Mendham, NJ asked in Intellectual Property for New Jersey

Q: What does this mean: "Subject to Freelancer and third-party rights in Pre‐Existing Intellectual Property..."

I am reviewing the IP section of an agreement from a freelancer for a copywriting project. This first passage (above) is the only part I'm not sure about. The entire section reads as follows: "Ownership of Deliverables. Subject to Freelancer and third-party rights in Pre‐Existing Intellectual Property, all Deliverables, whether complete or in progress, and all Intellectual Property Rights related thereto shall belong to Client, and Freelancer hereby assigns such rights to Client. Freelancer agrees that Client will own all patents, inventor’s certificates, utility models or other rights, copyrights or trade secrets covering the Deliverables and will have full rights to use the Deliverables without claim on the part of Freelancer for additional compensation and without challenge, opposition or interference by Freelancer."

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1 Lawyer Answer
Leonard R. Boyer
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Answered
  • Clifton, NJ
  • Licensed in New Jersey

A: Never sign any contract of any significance without having it reviewed first by an attorney. The cost of an hour of attorney's time could save you from the cost of an expensive lawsuit because you did not understand the contract. In addition, by not having an attorney negotiate a contract on your behalf, you may be giving up rights or other things that you should be entitled to. . Pick the best attorney you can find and remember one rule: a good attorney is generally never cheap, and a cheap attorney is generally never good so don't choose based on price.

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