Documents / IP & Media
Intellectual Property Assignment
Transfer full ownership of copyrights, patents, trademarks, or trade secrets from one party to another.
Self-help drafting template
Self-help drafting and electronic signing for ordinary adult transactions. Check the document-specific preparation steps before use.
Partly state-specific. Changes for some states only. Other states use the general text, so check your state’s mandatory rules for this document.
Version 2026-09-09.8. No qualified legal review is recorded. Read the complete document and obtain advice for your circumstances.
Before you use this document
- Identify the exact work and rights owned by the assignor, excluded background IP and consideration.
- Review employee-invention limits and third-party/open-source rights; complete any required registry recordation separately.
Guidance updated September 8, 2026. Source coverage is limited to the topics described; historical sources are identified. State, local and transaction-specific requirements still apply.
Time
~8 min
Questions
≤ 17
Steps
4
Export
PDF · Word
Answer guided questions, review your draft, and export or request signatures on supported documents.
What we will cover
- 01
Location
Choose the actual location so the preparation guidance and applicable safeguards follow your document.
- 02
The Parties
The Assignor gives up ownership; the Assignee receives it.
- 03
The Intellectual Property
- 04
Consideration & Legal Terms
- 05
Review and generate
Edit, export, and request e-signatures when the document meets its signing requirements.
About this document
An intellectual property assignment transfers ownership outright — copyrights, patents, trademarks, or trade secrets move from the assignor to the assignee permanently. It is the document you need when a contractor built your app or logo, when a founder is putting personal work into the company, or when IP is being sold as part of a deal. Investors and acquirers ask for the assignment chain early, and a gap in it can stall a financing.
Assignment is not the same as a licence: an assignment hands over ownership, while a licence only grants permission to use something you continue to own. The related mistake is relying on the phrase 'work made for hire' alone. That doctrine covers employees acting within their job, plus a narrow set of specially commissioned works, and it does not automatically capture a freelancer's output. An explicit present-tense assignment is what actually moves title.
Common questions
Who owns work created by a freelancer?+
By default the freelancer does. Absent a signed assignment, a contractor typically owns the copyright in what they create and the client holds only an implied licence to use it for the purpose it was commissioned for. That is why agencies, designers, and developers should sign an IP assignment alongside the services contract rather than relying on the invoice.
What is the difference between an IP assignment and a licence?+
An assignment transfers ownership, so the assignor keeps nothing and cannot use the property afterwards unless the agreement grants it back. A licence leaves ownership where it is and grants defined permission to use the property, which can be limited by territory, field, or time. If you want the other side to have no residual claim, use an assignment.
Does an IP assignment have to be in writing?+
For copyright, yes — transfers of ownership generally must be in a signed writing to be effective, which is why oral agreements about code and artwork fail so often. Patent and trademark assignments should also be written, and recording them with the patent and trademark office protects against later conflicting claims. Quill's assignment includes further-assurances language so the assignor must sign recordation paperwork if it is needed.
General information, not legal advice — laws vary by state and change over time.
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