Software Engineering Institute

Intellectual property (IP) rights are an important part of almost every acquisition strategy, but planning for and managing IP rights have special concerns for software and system acquisition. Your program must develop an IP strategy early in the lifecycle to ensure that the proper rights are available throughout the entire lifecycle. Understanding why IP rights are important throughout the lifecycle is vital to determining which IP rights to include in the acquisition. You then need strategies to ensure that your program includes the proper language in its acquisition documents and that the program and its contractors take the proper steps during execution to ensure compliance with the required IP rights.