What is SaaS Intellectual Property? 

Intellectual Property (IP) in the SaaS industry refers to the assets that your company has created and that have commercial value. In the US, copyright in employee-written code lasts up to 120 years. IP prevents third parties from stealing your property to obtain unlawful profit. These assets can include anything from software code to designs and logos to proprietary company data and unique processes.

SaaS copyright is automatic once the work is created. It’s against the law for another party to copy any proprietary elements of your software codebase, the visual design of your website or software, or anything used for marketing purposes. Third parties must seek your permission before they can use or reproduce anything you own by copyright.

Your SaaS company may not own your IP outright. It depends on drawing up the correct SaaS contracts and agreements with all the parties you work with. Agree in advance with contractors and partners who own the copyright to the work you produce. Usually, under a SaaS arrangement, the software belongs to the service provider, while the data belongs to the consumer.

Yes, it is possible to get patents for new and non-obvious working software processes, but not for abstract ideas. Since patents are typically difficult to obtain, time-consuming, and relatively expensive, businesses don’t use them for everything. Patents could be for something intangible as well as tangible. It’s possible to patent a software-implemented process, for example. A utility patent lasts up to 20 years from filing (USPTO).

The four types of intellectual property include:

• Trademarks: Anything that represents your brand, like logos, names, and taglines. Use creates the right; registration adds nationwide rights (USPTO).
• Copyrights: Typically what you think of as intellectual property, like creative work. This could be code, visual designs, or content. Employee-written code is usually a work made for hire: 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever ends first (U.S. Copyright Office).
• Patents: You own the rights to your software’s functionality, such as a particular feature.
• Trade Secrets: Confidential or proprietary knowledge owned by your business, such as customer data or processes.