Bay Area Estate Planning Attorneys on Inheriting Patents, Copyrights, and Other Intellectual Property

Intellectual property—ideas or works of art that have value but don’t originate in material reality—are considered personal property and may be bequeathed to heirs. There is well-established law on intellectual property and estate law for those who want their heirs to benefit from the fruits of their labors. If you’re creating an estate plan that may include intellectual property but don’t know where to start, here are a few pointers from our Bay Area estate planning attorneys:

Anyone can inherit intellectual property, and it can be put in a trust. 

Intellectual property is personal property, and it can be bequeathed to anyone. If an intellectual property owner dies intestate, the property will go to his or her next of kin. Likewise, it can be put into a trust to benefit anyone, any charity, or any entity. Since intellectual property can generate passive income, putting it into a trust not only allows it to bypass probate but also allows it to pay out to a beneficiary without him or her being responsible for the property. 

All intellectual property can be inherited. 

Any valid patent, trademark, or copyright can be inherited. They will go to a designated heir if included in a will or benefit heirs if included in a trust. They can also go through probate if the owner dies intestate. Any income generated from the intellectual property while in probate will go to the heir once he or she receives the property. However, any intellectual property can expire while in probate, so it’s important to keep a watchful eye on any renewal dates.

Copyrights are particularly complicated in this regard.  Depending on when the work was created, there may be circumstances under which the author’s default heirs (surviving spouse, children, grandchildren) may have the right to that intellectual property irrespective of who the author names as beneficiary. 

The clock doesn’t reset for inherited intellectual property.

Intellectual property expires. Patents expire after 20 years, copyrights 70 years after the author dies, and trademarks after 10 years. Trade secrets don’t expire, but if they’re ever made public, they are no longer valuable. Some types of intellectual property, like trademarks and older copyrights, can be renewed without any material change to the design. However, the expiration date doesn‘t change if the intellectual property is inherited. For example, if someone inherits a ten-year-old patent, they hold a patent for ten years, not twenty.

Executors or Trustees can renew intellectual property.

 An executor or a trustee can renew a copyright or trademark on behalf of the beneficiaries if necessary. In fact, a trustee has a duty to maintain all property in a trust to the best of his or her ability, and renewing a copyright or trademark is something within the trustee’s power.

An estate lawyer can help you include intellectual property in your estate plan. 

Your heirs can benefit from the intellectual property you created for one or more generations to come with careful and thorough estate planning. An estate lawyer can help you include intellectual property in your estate plan in a way that works for both you and your heirs. If you plan to leave intellectual property to your loved ones, our Bay Area estate planning attorneys are here to answer all of your questions. Simply call our office at (650) 422-3313 to schedule a consultation.