Intellectual Property

We guide clients in relation to the protection of their intellectual property including litigation and alternative disputes resolution mechanisms- always guided by achieving an effective and cost-effective solution for the clients.

Upon registration of your intellectual property rights, we help clients make efficient use of or commercialize their intellectual property and innovations through intellectual property license and assignment agreements. The two agreements vary from each other and it is important that the person assigning or licensing the intellectual property rights understand the ramifications of each. It is equally important for the purchaser of the intellectual property rights to enter into the right type of agreement, which will enable the maximum utilization of the intellectual property rights.

At CM Advocates Uganda, we have vast experience and assist clients with the preparation of these complex agreements, which determine the manner in which third parties can use your intellectual property. Our team is highly regarded and trusted when it comes to negotiating, drafting, reviewing or dealing with intellectual property agreements.

Our areas of work include: –

• legal advisory on intellectual property rights assignments and license agreements;
• legal opinion on regulatory requirements and compliance;
• negotiations, review and drafting of intellectual property license and assignment agreements;
• legal advisory on perfection and enforcement of intellectual property license agreements and assignment agreements. we also advise on termination of license agreements; and
• dispute resolution.

The Software agreements grant the users the right to use the software while equally granting the software owners control of the manner in which the software is used.

CM Advocates Uganda advises clients on a variety of software related contracting issues. Clients benefit from our client centric approach, experience and ability to negotiate and draft software agreements that meet the client’s business objectives in a way that minimizes risks and maximizes profits.

We advise software and hardware owners on the commercialization, protection, licensing and exploitation of software, data and technology. The types of software licenses that we advices on include End User License Agreements, B2B Software Licenses as well as Free/Open-Source Licenses.

Our areas of work include –

• legal advisory on software development and licensing agreement related issues;
• software agreements;
• software outsourcing agreements;
• systems integration agreements;
• software installation agreements;
• software purchase agreements;
• software consulting agreements;
• data protection;
• legal advisory on intellectual property rights protection;
• non-compete, non-disclosure and confidentiality; and
• license agreements for deployed software, software as a service (saas), cloud computing, hosting, integration, support and maintenance, proof-of-concept and development.

The rise of the Internet has revolutionized the way that business is conducted and generated new business models. Social media, emails and phone apps are now the default method of communication for most people. Undoubtedly, this has ushered a novel legal landscape affecting the protection of intellectual property rights.

At CM Advocates, we guide our clients on how to protect their intellectual property online and how to handle issues that arise from convergence of digital media and technology. We usually advice on issues facing businesses with internet activities, such as:

• Domain names disputes, registrations and licensing;
• E-commerce;
• Logistics and distribution (digital and physical);
• Cybercrimes, defamation and data protection
• Labour and Employment;
• Digital taxation;
• Mergers, joint ventures and strategic alliances;
• Outsourcing transactions.