Concern is spreading among IT managers that software
firms are driving an ever-harder bargain over the ownership of any
intellectual property created when they work with a user to tailor
products for an industry-specific business process.
Lorna Brazell, a partner in the intellectual property department
at law firm Bird & Bird, said there had been a rise in
litigation around intellectual property, and user organisations
were at risk of being caught out because, under English copyright
law, the company that develops the code owns the copyright.
She said businesses should be careful to specify which
intellectual property they want to retain when they sign
development deals with suppliers. Failure to do so could result in
the supplier gaining experience they could not find elsewhere,
while users may find they are tied so closely to the software that
they can get locked into a costly maintenance deal.
"In such an arrangement, customers may get the initial licence
for free but then have to pay a hefty maintenance charge," Brazell
warned.
Alexa Bona, research vice-president at analyst firm Gartner,
said companies should try to get exclusive rights for 18 months and
have a clause in the contract to preclude the supplier from selling
to a direct competitor.
She also urged users to consider patenting their business
processes to prevent enterprise software companies from
incorporating them into their products.
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