Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Ownership definition

What does Ownership mean? In legal practice, ownership describes who has the bundle of rights over property: to possess, use, enjoy income, exclude others, transfer, or charge it, subject to law and third‑party rights (such as easements/servitudes, leases and security interests). It is a descriptive expression used across contexts (land, goods, shares, intellectual property), rather than a single statutory definition, though related concepts are defined in legislation and case law (for example, beneficial ownership in anti‑money laundering/PSC regimes and land registration rules). Across England & Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, lawyers commonly distinguish legal ownership (title shown on a register, deed or share register) from...

Joint ownership of IP in the UK: principles across patents, copyright, designs and trade marks; pitfalls, drafting of joint ownership agreements, alternatives, and checklist

Published by a LexisNexis IP expert

Practice notes

When collaborators join forces on creative projects or Research and development, knotty questions arise about who owns any resulting IP. Joint Ownership can appear a straightforward and equitable answer where efforts were shared and the contributions cannot be disentangled. Yet, without careful thought about how jointly created IP will be owned, organised and exploited, parties may face legal traps, practical hurdles and limits on full commercialisation. In the great majority of cases, it is preferable to put in place an express agreement on joint ownership of IP rather than depend on the default legal position...

This Practice Note provides an overview of the law on joint ownership of IP (also known as co-ownership, used interchangeably in this note):

Implied joint ownership—basic principles
Implied joint ownership—risks and obstacles
Joint ownership agreements—key considerations
Alternatives to joint ownership of IP
Summary—joint ownership checklist

A working knowledge of IP law is assumed. For background to the IP rights covered in this note, see: IP essentials—overview...

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Jessica Stretch

Jessica is senior intellectual property lawyer with over 10 years of experience, advising on all aspects of trade marks, passing off, copyright, designs and domain names. Her practice covers contentious and non-contentious IP with a particular focus on brand clearance, anti-counterfeiting and digital media. Jessica works as a freelance IP lawyer, primarily with technology companies including eBay and King. She began her career as an IP litigator at Osborne Clarke LLP and Kemp Little, followed by a professional support role at LexisNexis UK. ...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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