Understand the IP issues behind a deal, raise or expansion plan

Businesses usually request an IP due diligence review before raising capital, buying or selling a business, entering a joint venture, or licensing valuable assets. It is also useful for companies that have grown quickly and are unsure whether their IP paperwork matches reality. Common examples include software built by contractors, branding developed over time, or content created without clear assignment terms. If a buyer, investor or commercial partner is likely to ask who owns what, this review helps you check the position early and identify documents that may need attention.

An IP review often uncovers ownership gaps, missing assignment deeds, outdated licence terms, trade marks filed in the wrong name, and unclear rights in work created by founders, employees or contractors. We also regularly see issues where a business is using a brand more broadly than its registrations support, or relying on third party material without clear permission. These points can affect valuation, deal negotiations and rollout plans. In some cases, regulator or authority requirements may also matter for registered rights, and timeframes can vary by jurisdiction when corrections or new filings are needed.

A brand clearance review is narrower and usually asks one main question: whether a proposed name or brand is likely to create trade mark risk before launch. An IP due diligence review is broader. It looks across the wider IP position behind a business, product, transaction or investment round, including ownership history, registrations, licences, assignments and possible infringement exposure. If your concern is the overall quality of your IP records and commercial rights, this is usually the better fit. If you only need pre-launch checks for a new brand, a clearance review may be more appropriate.

Once you receive the report, the next step is usually to prioritise the issues by commercial importance and urgency. For example, you might need to obtain signed assignment documents, correct ownership records, update licence terms, or address a brand risk before a launch, sale or investment process continues. Some clients use the report to answer buyer or investor questions, while others treat it as an internal clean-up plan. If a filing, correction or approval is needed, approval depends on the relevant regulator or authority, and Where an external authority is involved, we will help you understand what may be needed for your situation..

Usually not. The fixed-fee generally covers the review itself, the written report and advice on the main findings. If the review identifies missing assignments, registration problems, contract amendments, enforcement options or other remedial work, those items are usually scoped separately. That approach is often more practical because some clients only need the report for a transaction, while others want help implementing a full clean-up. Ongoing representation is not included automatically, and any extra work depends on what the review uncovers, the documents involved and whether third-party or authority processes are required.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the IP Due Diligence Review service, pricing starts from $2,000.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.