intellectual-property
Unable to understand this text in a deed of assignment of intellectual property
<p>"<em>The assignor has agreed to assign to the Company all of his intellectual property rights and title, interest in and to assigned rights relating to the business, technologies, software, products and services of the Company on the terms set out in this Deed.</em>"</p>

<p>I have joined a startup and have been asked to sign a "Deed of assignment of intellectual property" document. My specific question is that does it mean whatever IP I owned till today automatically becomes their property? </p>

<p>There is another clause: "<em>To the extent that the Assignor owns (or if applicable owned) Intellectual Property Rights in the Assigned IP, the Assignor assigns to the Company (or if applicable confirms the assignment to the Company of) all of his or her right, title and interest in the Assigned IP.</em>" </p>

<p>I do not understand the legal stuff. I own a domain name and a patent. I also plan to own a company in a few years and am working towards it. Does it mean all that I develop in my personal time will belong to this company?</p>

<p>Full deed copy: <a href="https://simmondsstewart.com/template/ip-assignment-2016-09-16.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://simmondsstewart.com/template/ip-assignment-2016-09-16.pdf</a></p>

<p>I’m going to answer the headline question “Unable to understand this text in a deed of assignment of intellectual property” because the body is way off-topic as seeking legal advice.</p>

<p><strong>Don’t sign anything you don’t understand! Ever!</strong></p>

<p>Legally signing something means 3 things:</p>

<ol>
<li>I’ve read it</li>
<li>I understand it</li>
<li>I agree with it</li>
</ol>

<p>If you don’t, don’t sign it.</p>

<p>You need to get someone who does understand it to explain it to you until you do understand it. Because the act of explaining a contract is legal advice, that person has to be someone authorised to practice law i.e. a lawyer.</p>
