Most disputes with clients and contractors start with a vague contract: the deliverable, deadlines, acceptance procedure or liability are not described. For IT businesses there is one more question — who actually owns the rights to the code, design or content.
We draft contracts for your business model and review documents proposed by the other side. We separately handle the transfer of economic intellectual property rights from employees, sole proprietor (FOP) contractors and studios, as well as licences, NDAs, public offers and terms of service. To protect your brand, we help register a trademark.
When to seek help
- You work with developers or designers as sole proprietors (FOP) or contractors
- A client has sent you their contract and you need to understand the risks
- You are launching a SaaS, app or online service and need terms of use
- An investor or buyer asks whether the company owns the rights to the product
- You want to protect your name and logo
- You need a non-disclosure agreement before negotiations with a partner
What the lawyer does
Contracts tailored to your business model
Service, work, supply, agency and distribution agreements — with a clear subject matter, acceptance procedure, payment terms, liability and dispute resolution.
Reviewing counterparty contracts
We analyse the other side's draft, flag risky terms, propose wording for negotiations and explain what is acceptable and what should be changed.
Securing rights to developments
We prepare agreements transferring economic rights to code, design and texts, and check the chain of title from the authors to the company, including for work created earlier.
Licences, offers, terms of service
We draft licence agreements, terms of use, public offers and online sales rules that match how the product actually works.
Protecting the brand
We check whether the mark is available, prepare a trademark application, support registration in Ukraine and, if needed, coordinate filings abroad.
Documents to prepare
- Existing contracts or the draft to be reviewed
- A description of the services or product and how you sell
- A list of developers, designers and contractors and the form of cooperation with them
- Acceptance certificates, specifications and correspondence on product development
- Name and logo, if a trademark is needed
What you get
- A contract or set of templates for your business model
- A reviewed counterparty contract with comments and revisions
- Documents transferring intellectual property rights to the company
- Recommendations on using the templates going forward
Frequently asked questions
If a developer works as a sole proprietor (FOP), who owns the code?
Without a proper contract, the economic rights to the code created may remain with the developer. That is why a contract with a sole proprietor (FOP) should expressly provide for the transfer of economic rights to the work results, the moment of transfer, their scope and territory. For work already created, a separate rights transfer agreement can be concluded. Investors and business buyers usually check the chain of title.
Can I use a contract template from the internet?
A template is fine as a starting point but rarely reflects your model: how work is accepted, who is liable for delays, what happens to the rights after termination. Templates are also often written for another country's law. We can adapt your template — this is usually faster and cheaper than drafting a contract from scratch.
Does a small business need a trademark?
Trademark registration gives an exclusive right to the mark for the selected goods and services and makes it easier to act against copying. Without it, protecting a name is much harder. Before filing, it is worth checking whether a similar mark is already registered. Examination of an application in Ukraine usually takes many months, so it is better to file in advance, before active promotion.