Intellectual Property is a commercial asset that can form a valuable part of your estate after you die, especially if you’re an artist, musician or author, or even say, a software developer or business owner. In the absence of other more tangible forms of property, this could represent a significant proportion of the overall assets that you leave your loved ones. 

Below we look briefly at some of the key considerations for intellectual property owners when bequeathing the rights to their intellectual creations, including who you’d like to benefit and how you’d like any intellectual property to be dealt with after your death.

What is intellectual property?

Intellectual property refers to something that has been uniquely created, such as things written, created or produced; the design or look of anything that has been produced; or even the name of a brand or product. This can include inventions, innovative designs, works of art, a piece of music or writing, computer programs, or even symbols or images used in marketing. 

Intellectual property law grants the creator or owner exclusive rights over their intellectual asset(s) for a fixed period of time, where in some cases this protection can span several decades.

Throughout this period of exclusivity, intellectual property rights can be bought, sold, licensed, mortgaged or otherwise assigned. This means that your creation will have an intrinsic value in itself, in addition to any income generated from allowing others to exploit the rights relating to it, for example, through license agreements to use a software program or royalties to play a song on the radio. 

How to bequeath intellectual property?

When bequeathing intellectual property in your Will, you need to consider not only the value of any creation, but also the nature of any legal rights relating to it. These could include, for example, patents, copyright, design rights and trademarks.

Whilst a creation itself may be successful, it is often these additional layers that are most valuable, especially where these rights give rise to a potential valuable source of income for the subsequent owner(s) in years to come. This means that due consideration must be given to how these rights will be distributed amongst any beneficiaries.

By way of example, copyright is a collection of rights automatically afforded in relation to various artistic creations, including music, books, films and paintings. Here, the law affords protection over the creation for the lifetime of the maker, plus an additional 70 years from the end of the year in which they died.  

This means that the right to benefit from copyright can be bequeathed in your Will. This could be left to one person specifically, or divided between multiple people in separate shares. If you have multiple works, and therefore copyright within multiple sources, these could again be left to either one person or divided between several different individuals.

You could also consider a trust arrangement for ring-fencing any intellectual property rights. By using a trust mechanism, you can assign appointed trustees with the task of utilising these rights for the benefit of chosen beneficiaries, whilst continuing to exercise some control over your creative legacy even after you die.

Ensuring that your loved ones benefit from any intellectual property in the way that you would want can all be achieved with the right legal advice and a well-drafted Will.

Legal disclaimer

The matters contained herein are intended to be for general information purposes only. This blog does not constitute legal advice, nor is it a complete or authoritative statement of the law and should not be treated as such.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information is correct, no warranty, express or implied, is given as to its accuracy and no liability is accepted for any error or omission. Before acting on any of the information contained herein, expert legal advice should be sought.