Legal — draft
Submission Terms
The terms that apply when you submit an invention, disclosure or industry challenge.
Draft — requires professional legal review before launch
This document is a working draft prepared as part of the IPMeld website build. It has not been reviewed or approved by a qualified legal adviser and must not be relied upon in its current form. All bracketed placeholders require verified information before publication.
Version 1.0 draft · Last updated 2 September 2026 · Governing law: England and Wales [to be confirmed]
1. Scope
These terms apply when you submit an invention disclosure, supporting evidence, an industry challenge or related material (a Submission) to IPMeld. They should be read with the Terms of Use, the Confidentiality Notice, the Intellectual Property Notice and the Privacy Notice.
2. Ownership is not transferred
Submitting an invention to IPMeld does not transfer ownership of that invention or of any intellectual property in it. Neither IPMeld nor Big5 Network Ltd acquires any ownership interest in your invention merely because you have submitted it.
Any transfer, assignment, option, licence or revenue-sharing arrangement requires a separate written agreement, signed by the parties, and negotiated on terms recorded in that agreement.
3. The limited permission you give us
To assess and, where appropriate, commercialise a Submission, you grant a limited, non-exclusive, revocable permission to store the Submission, to review it internally, to disclose it to assigned expert reviewers and professional advisers under confidentiality obligations, and to prepare an anonymised, non-enabling summary.
Disclosure to a prospective industrial partner requires your recorded consent for that disclosure. Anonymised summaries are published only with recorded consent and never include enabling technical detail or inventor identities.
This permission exists only for assessment, matching and commercialisation of your Submission. It is not a licence to practise your invention.
4. What you confirm when submitting
You confirm, to the best of your knowledge, that: you are entitled to submit the material; you have identified every contributor and co-inventor; you have declared any employer, supervisor, institution, funder or sponsor whose rights may apply; you have declared any prior publication, demonstration, sale or offer for sale; you have declared any existing agreement, option or encumbrance affecting the invention; and the material does not infringe the rights of a third party.
If any of this changes, tell us promptly. Inaccurate or incomplete declarations may result in a Submission being paused, declined or archived.
5. Publication risk and novelty
Public disclosure before a patent application is filed can destroy novelty and prevent patent protection in most jurisdictions. IPMeld does not publish enabling detail, but we cannot reverse a disclosure you have already made or make elsewhere.
IPMeld does not guarantee that patent or other intellectual property protection is available, will be granted or will be maintained. You should take independent advice from a qualified patent attorney before disclosing your invention to anyone.
6. Assessment process and statuses
Submissions progress through recorded statuses: Draft, Submitted, Completeness Review, Ownership Review, Preliminary Assessment, Expert Review, Validation Candidate, Matching in Progress, Corporate Evaluation, Pilot, Licensing Negotiation, Licensed, Spin-Out, Declined and Archived.
Progression is not automatic and is not guaranteed. We may request further information, pause a Submission pending an ownership question, or decline it. Where we decline, we aim to give written reasons.
7. Contributor recognition
Where a technology package is assembled from more than one Submission, a proposed contributor allocation is circulated in writing to the named contributors before any agreement is executed. Allocation reflects the assessed technical contribution to the commercialised package and any applicable institutional policy.
Allocation proposals are not final until agreed in writing by the relevant parties. A proposal is not an offer of payment and does not create an entitlement to revenue.
8. No guaranteed returns
IPMeld makes no promise of licensing, revenue, royalty, equity or any other financial return. Any illustrative example on the Platform is not a forecast. Royalty and revenue-sharing terms, if any, arise only from a separately executed agreement.
9. Similar and independently developed technology
IPMeld receives many Submissions and works across many sectors. We may hold, receive or develop material that is similar to yours. Nothing in these terms prevents us from working with independently developed or independently received material, provided we do not use your confidential information in breach of the Confidentiality Notice.
10. Withdrawal, deletion and retention
You may withdraw a Submission at any time before an agreement is executed by writing to [email protected]. On withdrawal we stop assessment and matching. We retain a minimal record of what was received and when, and any disclosure log, to protect both parties. Where a disclosure has already been made under confidentiality, the confidentiality obligations continue.
11. Secure portal status
Secure submission functionality is under development. Areas marked Secure Portal Coming Soon are prototypes with demonstration data. Do not send confidential technical detail, unpublished patent information or enabling information through an ordinary web form or by unencrypted email. Contact the team to agree a secure route. Submitting a form does not create a non-disclosure agreement.
Contact
Questions about this document should be directed to the IPMeld team:
Big5 Network Ltd
167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor
London, England, W1W 5PF
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0) 203 576 6565
Email: [email protected]
Website: ipmeld.com
IPMeld is a project promoted and supported by Big5 Network Ltd. IPMeld is a working brand name subject to company-name, domain and trade mark clearance.