# Intellectual property

URL: /systems/intellectual-property · Id: `system:intellectual-property`

> Intellectual property keeps a Startup’s trademarks, patents, Domains and handles as one register, with deadlines and renewals watched.

Intellectual property keeps a [Startup](/business/nouns/startup)’s trademarks, patents, [Domains](/business/nouns/domain) and handles in one register, with every deadline and renewal watched. A renewal arrives as a [Task](/business/nouns/task) months ahead, never as a lapse.

## Summary
| Part | This System |
| --- | --- |
| Group | Legal and corporate |
| Status | Beta: it works, and its Verbs may still change |
| Shelf | Front: offered from a Startup’s first days |

You can ask:

- “Register my trademark”
- “Is this name already taken?”
- “When do our domains renew?”
- “Claim our handle on Instagram”

## What you get
| Part | This System |
| --- | --- |
| Starts | On for every Startup at creation, with nothing to install. |
| Built from | [Database](/code/platform/capabilities/database), [Workflows](/code/platform/workflows), [Trademark filings](/systems/legal-and-corporate/trademarks), [Patent filings](/systems/legal-and-corporate/patents) |

## Nouns it owns
| Noun | Definition |
| --- | --- |
| [Brand](/business/nouns/brand) | A Brand is a name, a voice, a logo, and a style under which a Startup makes Offers. |
| [Domain](/business/nouns/domain) | A Domain is a hostname that points at a Thing, with a role, a status, and a lifecycle tracked as data. |
| [Handle](/business/nouns/handle) | A Handle is an account or name a Startup or Brand holds on an outside platform, bound to an Integration credential. |

## Verbs
| Verb | Object | Approval | Event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Brand.clear](/business/nouns/brand/clear) | [Brand](/business/nouns/brand) | None | [`Brand.cleared`](/business/events/Brand.cleared) |
| [Domain.register](/business/nouns/domain/register) | [Domain](/business/nouns/domain) | Asks first; waits 1 business hour | [`Domain.registered`](/business/events/Domain.registered) |
| [Domain.renew](/business/nouns/domain/renew) | [Domain](/business/nouns/domain) | Asks first; waits 1 business hour | [`Domain.renewed`](/business/events/Domain.renewed) |
| [Handle.connect](/business/nouns/handle/connect) | [Handle](/business/nouns/handle) | Asks first | [`Handle.connected`](/business/events/Handle.connected) |

## Events
| Direction | Event | How |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Emits | [`Brand.cleared`](/business/events/Brand.cleared) | By [Brand.clear](/business/nouns/brand/clear) |
| Emits | [`Domain.registered`](/business/events/Domain.registered) | By [Domain.register](/business/nouns/domain/register) |
| Emits | [`Domain.renewed`](/business/events/Domain.renewed) | By [Domain.renew](/business/nouns/domain/renew) |
| Emits | [`Handle.connected`](/business/events/Handle.connected) | By [Handle.connect](/business/nouns/handle/connect) |
| Emits | [`Domain.renewalDue`](/business/nouns/domain#domainrenewaldue) | Raised when a date passes |
| Emits | [`Domain.expired`](/business/nouns/domain#domainexpired) | Raised when a date passes |

## States
The lifecycle of a [Domain](/business/nouns/domain):

| State | Meaning | Moves to |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `candidate` (first) | A name found by search that no one here holds yet. | `held` by [Domain.register](/business/nouns/domain/register); `registered` by [Domain.register](/business/nouns/domain/register); `claimed` by [Domain.claim](/business/nouns/domain/claim); `connected` by [Domain.connect](/business/nouns/domain/connect) |
| `held` | Registered to the holding Company and not yet assigned to a Startup. | `claimed` by [Domain.claim](/business/nouns/domain/claim); `released` by [Domain.release](/business/nouns/domain/release) |
| `claimed` | Assigned to a Startup: a label under an issuing Domain, or a held Domain. | `live` by [Domain.verify](/business/nouns/domain/verify); `released` by [Domain.release](/business/nouns/domain/release) |
| `registered` | Registered to its owner of record and pointed at the Startup’s address. | `verifying` by [Domain.verify](/business/nouns/domain/verify) |
| `connected` | Attached from another registrar while its ownership proof is checked. | `verifying` by [Domain.verify](/business/nouns/domain/verify) |
| `verifying` | Its first DNS, ownership and certificate checks are running. | `live` by [Domain.verify](/business/nouns/domain/verify); `degraded` by [Domain.verify](/business/nouns/domain/verify) |
| `live` | Serving, with its DNS, ownership and certificate checks passing. | `degraded` by [Domain.verify](/business/nouns/domain/verify); `expiring` on [`Domain.renewalDue`](/business/nouns/domain#domainrenewaldue); `renewed` by [Domain.renew](/business/nouns/domain/renew); `transferred` by [Domain.transfer](/business/nouns/domain/transfer); `released` by [Domain.release](/business/nouns/domain/release) |
| `degraded` | A check failed; a degraded canonical Domain opens an Incident. | `live` by [Domain.verify](/business/nouns/domain/verify); `released` by [Domain.release](/business/nouns/domain/release) |
| `expiring` | Inside its renewal window with no renewal yet. | `renewed` by [Domain.renew](/business/nouns/domain/renew); `lapsed` on [`Domain.expired`](/business/nouns/domain#domainexpired) |
| `lapsed` | Its registration ended unrenewed, and the registrar may still restore it. | `renewed` by [Domain.renew](/business/nouns/domain/renew); `released` by [Domain.release](/business/nouns/domain/release) |
| `renewed` | Extended by whole years at its renewal price. | `live` by [Domain.verify](/business/nouns/domain/verify) |
| `transferred` | Moved to another holder or registrar, with its record and history kept. | None: it ends here. |
| `released` | Its registration or claim ended, and its record, history and aliases are kept. | None: it ends here. |

## Who operates it
| Part | This System |
| --- | --- |
| Accountable | [Legal Lead](/agents/legal/legal-lead) |
| Team | [Legal Team](/agents/legal) |
| Seat | A role agent holds it until a Human is seated. |
| Autonomy | `assist` |
| Also calls its Verbs | [Integration Engineer](/agents/engineering/integration-engineer) |

## Approvals and limits
| Verb | Rule | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Domain.register](/business/nouns/domain/register) | A person says yes first | Waits 1 business hour |
| [Domain.renew](/business/nouns/domain/renew) | A person says yes first | Waits 1 business hour |
| [Handle.connect](/business/nouns/handle/connect) | A person says yes first | None. |

## Processes that use it
None.

## Rail underneath
None.

## Views and dashboards
| View | Shows | Metrics |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The [Legal Lead](/agents/legal/legal-lead)’s view | The Metrics its accountable Role answers for. | [Standard-terms share](/agents/legal#standard-terms-share) |

## Access
What each Access level may call here.

| Access level | May call |
| --- | --- |
| `owner` | Every Verb (18) |
| `admin` | All but 2 of 18: `Domain.register`, `Domain.renew` |
| `member` | All but 2 of 18: `Domain.register`, `Domain.renew` |
| `viewer` | Read only (6 of 18) |

## Import and export
None.

## Fees and pricing
Government filing fees and registry renewals pass through at cost, each posted as its own Entry.

## Availability and limits
| Part | This System |
| --- | --- |
| Status | Beta: it works, and its Verbs may still change |

## Compliance notes
Every deadline and renewal is watched and raised as a Task; what to file stays the founder’s.

Controls it carries:

- [Point-in-time recovery](/systems/trust-and-governance/controls/point-in-time-recovery)
- [Processing definitions](/systems/trust-and-governance/controls/processing-definitions)
- [Action completion](/systems/trust-and-governance/controls/action-completion)

## Related Systems
- [Corporate records](/systems/corporate-records)
- [Sites](/products/site/sites)
- [Social](/systems/social)

## Example
A [Directory](/products/templates/directory) of indie games registers its name as a trademark in two classes and holds the matching Domains and handles. Intellectual property watches for similar filings. When one appears, the [Legal Lead](/agents/legal/legal-lead) [Agent](/business/nouns/agent) drafts an opposition before the window closes.