SOFTWARE IP PROTECTION CHECKLIST
Educational worksheet | October 10, 2026
No software scan, legal opinion, or guarantee of enforceability.

1. Inventory distributed binaries, client-side code, interfaces, documentation,
   and the confidential information retained internally.
2. Identify ownership records: employment and contractor assignments,
   acquisitions, licensing grants, and version history.
3. Map third-party components and open-source obligations.
4. Locate customer licenses, acceptance records, NDAs, permitted uses,
   and relevant distribution agreements.
5. Record reasonable secrecy measures: access controls, approvals, logging,
   confidentiality practices, and offboarding.
6. Separate protectable expression and confidential know-how from
   functionality, standard requirements, and independently developed features.
7. Ask qualified counsel which rights, exceptions, jurisdictions, and
   preservation obligations are relevant to a specific concern.
8. Define a proportionate review question, evidence set, budget, and next step.

Do not send confidential artifacts through the public inquiry form.
Use the Evidence Preservation Checklist for preparation considerations.