Pro-Forma Assignment, Filing Document

Where intellectual property or other assets are the subject of Record Title, documents such as assignments must be filed with the relevant recording entity, e.g., the patent office, and then become a matter of public record, easily accessible over databases such as Delphion, Espacenet or the USPTO and European Patent Office websites. As the parties to such a transaction may not want the commercial terms to be made public, it is common to draft a second ‘bare bones’ agreement that just states the effect on ownership (title) of the transaction and no more, and to file this in the relevant offices. This is referred to as a pro-forma assignment or filing document.

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