--- title: "Finding the IP You Already Have | Pitch" description: "Most companies own more intellectual property than they have registered. This article explains which rights arise without registration, how an IP audit finds…" url: https://www.pitch.law/academy/hidden-intellectual-property-audit --- [pitch](https://www.pitch.law/) [Academy](https://www.pitch.law/academy) [Intellectual property](https://www.pitch.law/academy/topics/intellectual-property) # Finding the IP You Already Have Most companies own more intellectual property than they have registered. This article explains which rights arise without registration, how an IP audit finds them, and why ownership matters. - By By Bart Lieben, Attorney-at-Law - Published 26 October 2026 ## The legal framework A company's intellectual property is not limited to what appears in a register. Some rights arise automatically, others stay in the hands of people who created them, and some valuable assets are protected only as long as nobody discloses them. ### Rights that arise without registration Copyright arises on creation of an original work: software, documentation, technical drawings, photographs, texts, marketing material and designs. No formality is needed. Directive 96/9/EC gives the maker of a database that required a substantial investment a separate right (the sui generis right) for 15 years, renewed if the content is substantially changed. An unregistered Community design protects the appearance of a product for three years from the day it was first made available to the public in the EU (Regulation (EC) 6/2002, Art. 11). Trade secrets, such as formulas, know-how and customer data, are protected under Directive (EU) 2016/943 if they are secret, valuable because secret, and subject to reasonable steps to keep them so. ### Rights that need a filing to exist Inventions are protectable by patent only if they are filed before they are made public, since the EPC has no general grace period. A technical solution developed in a project and described in a presentation may therefore be lost without anyone noticing. Names and logos are protected as trademarks through registration, and the protection of unregistered signs differs from one member state to the next. ### Who owns it Ownership is the point where many companies discover problems. Copyright in a program created by an employee in the execution of their duties is exercised by the employer (Directive 2009/24/EC, Art. 2(3)). For other works, and for works made by freelancers, agencies and joint development partners, rights stay with the creator unless they are assigned in writing. Beyond that, national law decides. Many countries want copyright transfers in writing and read them narrowly, and rules on employee inventions differ widely: some member states have a specific statute, while others leave it to the employment contract and case law. Universities and research partners often have their own rules. ## In practice An IP audit is a structured review with five steps. 1. **Interview.** We talk with the people who develop products, content and processes, because they know what has been created and by whom. 2. **Inventory.** Every asset is recorded: registered rights, unregistered rights, inventions not yet filed, trade secrets, domain names, software and the third-party materials used with them. 3. **Ownership.** For each asset we trace who created it and on what basis, and whether the company holds the rights by law, by assignment or by licence. 4. **Assessment.** Each asset is classified by value and risk, and we advise whether to file, keep secret, license, assign or leave it. For possible inventions, [our patent analysis function](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/patent-intelligence) tests whether anything comparable exists in the state of the art. 5. **Record.** Results enter the register in [our portfolio system](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/portfolio-renewals) and the missing contracts are drafted, for example with [our Document Studio](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-studio). A European robotics company agrees to an audit before a funding round. The interviews reveal an unpatented gripper mechanism that the engineers presented at a student workshop eight months earlier. Novelty is likely lost for that version, but a later improvement is still unpublished and can be filed. The audit also finds that the control software was written partly by a freelancer without an assignment, that the product name has not been registered as a trademark, and that a customer dataset used for training is protected only as a trade secret. Each finding has a remedy: a patent filing for the improvement, an assignment from the freelancer, a trademark filing and a confidentiality review. The same exercise often matters for tax. Several member states have an IP-based tax incentive for income from qualifying IP rights, such as patents and copyright-protected software. The audit shows whether there is a basis to claim it and which records are needed. Our [innovation income deduction](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/innovation-income-deduction) service builds on such a review. ## Frequently asked questions ### Do I own what my employees create? For software, the employer generally exercises the economic rights if the work was made in the execution of the employee's duties. For other works and inventions it depends on the contract and the circumstances, so the employment contract should say so. ### Is an audit only for large companies? No. A smaller company with a handful of assets can be reviewed in a short exercise, and it is often most useful before a funding round, sale or product launch. ### What happens if I find an unfiled invention that has already been presented? Novelty may be lost for what was disclosed, but improvements and unpublished aspects may still be protectable. The earlier it is checked, the more can be saved. ### Does an audit lead to more filings? Not necessarily. It often leads to fewer, better-targeted filings, to contracts that fix ownership, and to a decision to keep some things secret. ## How this connects An audit is the first step of a [patent strategy](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/patent-strategy), because it identifies what may be worth protecting. It also supplies the evidence for the [innovation income deduction](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/innovation-income-deduction). The technology that records the results is described in [IP portfolio, renewals and deadlines](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/portfolio-renewals). ## In short - Several rights arise without any registration - An audit lists what you own, who owns it and what is at risk - Gaps in ownership are the most common finding - Results feed filings, contracts and tax claims ## Related solutions - [Solutions](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/patent-strategy) ### [360° Patent Strategy](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/patent-strategy) [Decide what to protect, where and when, and plan the cost, so that your patents serve the business and not the other way round.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/patent-strategy) - [Solutions](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/innovation-income-deduction) ### [Belgian Innovation Income Deduction](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/innovation-income-deduction) [Belgian companies can deduct 85% of net income from qualifying IP, which brings the effective rate on that income down to about 3.75%. We establish whether you qualify and build the file.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/innovation-income-deduction) - [Solutions](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/incorporation) ### [Incorporate a Company in Belgium](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/incorporation) [Setting up a Belgian company means choosing the right form, a sound financial plan, articles and a shareholders' agreement, and making sure the company owns the IP behind the business. We prepare everything and work with your notary.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/incorporation) - [Solutions](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/management-agreement) ### [Management Agreement](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/management-agreement) [A director or manager who works through a management company or as a self-employed person needs an agreement that holds up as a mandate and not as employment. We draft it around the law that applies, the company's IP and a clean exit.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/management-agreement) - [Solutions](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/shareholders-agreement) ### [Shareholders' Agreement](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/shareholders-agreement) [A shareholders' agreement sets out how the owners run the company, who may sell to whom and what happens when they disagree. We draft it with the articles of association, and make sure the IP stays in the company.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/shareholders-agreement) ## Technology we use - [Technology](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/patent-intelligence) ### [Patent Analysis and Research](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/patent-intelligence) [Analysis of third-party patents and research answers built on European Patent Office data and UPC and EPO case law, with every citation checked and every opinion signed by an attorney.](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/patent-intelligence) - [Technology](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/portfolio-renewals) ### [IP Portfolio, Renewals and Deadlines](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/portfolio-renewals) [Your trademarks, designs, domain names and patents in one view, with deadlines docketed, renewals batched and every computed date confirmed by a person.](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/portfolio-renewals) - [Technology](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-studio) ### [Document Studio](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-studio) [Our Document Studio drafts and analyses legal documents in a secure, on-premise environment, and keeps the documents behind your matters up to date as new data comes in and procedural steps fall due.](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-studio) ## More in Intellectual property - ### [EUIPO Fast Track](https://www.pitch.law/academy/euipo-fast-track-filing) [Fast Track speeds up examination of EU trade mark applications that use pre-approved wording. This article explains what it is, what it does not change and when it makes sense.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/euipo-fast-track-filing) - ### [How to Value an IP Portfolio](https://www.pitch.law/academy/how-to-value-ip-portfolio) [Why and when an IP portfolio is valued, the three standard valuation approaches, and the legal facts that decide whether a right is worth what its owner thinks.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/how-to-value-ip-portfolio) - ### [IP Cost Planning for Multi-Jurisdiction Filings](https://www.pitch.law/academy/ip-cost-planning-budgeting-for-multi-jurisdiction-filings) [What a trademark portfolio costs depends on routes, classes and countries as much as on the number of marks. This article sets out the cost elements and how to plan them over the life of a mark.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/ip-cost-planning-budgeting-for-multi-jurisdiction-filings) - ### [IP Lifecycle Management](https://www.pitch.law/academy/ip-lifecycle-management) [Every intellectual property right has a life: it is created, protected, maintained, used and eventually ends. This article describes those stages, their legal terms and the decisions each one calls for.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/ip-lifecycle-management) - ### [Managing Your IP Deadlines](https://www.pitch.law/academy/managing-your-ip-deadlines) [Which time limits matter in trademark, design and patent matters, which of them can be extended, what happens when one is missed, and how a reliable deadline process is built.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/managing-your-ip-deadlines) - ### [Online Brand Protection: How Brand Monitoring Works](https://www.pitch.law/academy/online-brand-protection-how-brand-monitoring-works) [How infringements of a trademark are found online, which rules decide whether they are unlawful, and which routes exist to stop them.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/online-brand-protection-how-brand-monitoring-works) ## Let’s talk Tell us what you’re working on. We’ll get the right person on it and reply within one business day. The first chat is free. [Schedule a meeting](https://www.pitch.law/schedule)