Intellectual Property Policy

1. IP Clearance Procedures

Before any third-party content (text, images, video, audio, code, fonts, trademarks, or trade dress) is incorporated into a Gear Wave product, marketing asset, or public-facing surface, the responsible team member must complete the following clearance steps:

• Source check. Identify the original creator or rights-holder and the licensing terms (e.g. license URL, purchase receipt, written permission, public-domain status).
• License scope review. Confirm the license permits the intended use (commercial, modification, distribution, sublicensing, geography, duration). Stock-asset previews, watermarked comps, and "personal use only" assets must not ship.
• Attribution. Where the license requires credit, the credit is recorded in the asset registry and surfaced in product credits or the asset's metadata.
• AI-generated content. Generated assets are reviewed for training-data and likeness risk; outputs that resemble identifiable third-party works, real people, or protected marks are rejected.
• Trademark and name check. New product names, feature names, and visible marks are screened against the USPTO TESS database and a basic web search before launch.
• Recordkeeping. Source, license, scope, and approver are logged in the asset registry. Assets without a complete record are not used.

Any team member who is unsure whether an asset is cleared must escalate to the founder before publishing.

2. Acquisition of Rights, Licenses, and Consents

Gear Wave acquires all rights, licenses, or consents necessary to use any content it publishes or distributes, including: (a) written or click-through licenses for stock media, fonts, and software; (b) photo, video, and likeness releases for any identifiable person featured in marketing; (c) location releases where required; (d) brand-use consent for any partner logos or testimonials; and (e) explicit license grants from listing owners covering the listing photos, descriptions, and reviews they upload (as set out in the Terms of Service).

3. Contractor IP Assignment

Every contractor, freelancer, agency, or third-party developer engaged by Gear Wave must execute a written agreement containing an IP-assignment clause substantially in the following form before beginning work:

Assignment of Work Product. Contractor agrees that all deliverables, source code, designs, copy, artwork, data models, configurations, and other work product created by Contractor (alone or with others) for Gear Wave, or that result from Contractor's services for Gear Wave, are "works made for hire" for Gear Wave to the maximum extent permitted by law. To the extent any such work product does not qualify as a work made for hire, Contractor hereby irrevocably assigns to Gear Wave all right, title, and interest in and to such work product, including all copyrights, patents, trade-secret rights, trademark rights, and other intellectual property rights, worldwide and in perpetuity. Contractor agrees to execute any further documents Gear Wave reasonably requests to perfect or record such assignment and waives any moral rights in the work product to the extent permitted by law.

Pre-existing IP owned by the contractor and incorporated into the deliverables must be identified in writing and is licensed to Gear Wave on a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable basis for use with the deliverables.

4. Prior-Employer / Prior-Client IP

Every employee, contractor, advisor, and intern engaged by Gear Wave is required to sign the following acknowledgment as a condition of engagement:

No Use of Third-Party IP. I represent and warrant that I will not bring to Gear Wave or use in connection with my services for Gear Wave any confidential information, trade secrets, source code, designs, customer lists, or other intellectual property belonging to any prior employer, client, or other third party, unless I have a written license or written permission from that party authorizing such use. I have disclosed to Gear Wave any continuing obligations (such as non-compete, non-solicitation, or confidentiality obligations) that could restrict my services. I agree that my work for Gear Wave will be my own original work or built from materials I am lawfully entitled to use.

5. Ownership of Gear Wave IP

Gear Wave owns all right, title, and interest in and to the Gear Wave platform, brand, marks, software, content, and derivative works, except for (a) content licensed to Gear Wave by listing owners and other users under the Terms of Service, and (b) third-party content used under license. Ownership terms for customer-facing relationships are set out in the Terms of Service.

6. Infringement Reports & Takedown

Rights-holders who believe content on Gear Wave infringes their IP may submit a written notice to support@gearwaveapp.com including: identification of the work, the allegedly infringing URL or listing, the rights-holder's contact information, a good-faith statement, and a signature. Gear Wave reviews and removes infringing content under a DMCA-style process and may suspend repeat infringers.

7. Updates

Gear Wave may update this policy. Material changes will be communicated by email or in-app notice. Continued use of the platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance.