Using Personal Laptop For Business

[Lewis Hanson]

Hi All

Hope everyone is well.

I am currently using my personal laptop for all work/startup related things and will be incorporating to a ltd company shortly.

Once incorporated I will be continuing to use my personal laptop for work for a period until such a time that a specific work laptop can be purchased via the company.

My question is, do I need to do anything in moving to an incorporated company such as transferring personal laptop to an asset in the company, so as all work-related stuff, particularly IP such as designs etc is then owned by the company, or is there some sort of legal document I should have drafted up to say whilst it is still my personal laptop it is being used for businesses purposes and therefore all IP belongs to the company?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

 

[Porky]

You probably just need to cover off with your accountant. I guess in principle you are either lending it to the business or the business could buy it from you and a percentage of your wages going forward could be allocated towards further development of the IP.

Not sure if it’s worth doing any written agreements as such without legal advice and that would likely be cost prohibitive

 

[LanceUk]

If its your company and there are no investors/partners, does it really matter where the IP vests as long as it with you or the company? When you go to get investors, you will have to draft legal agreements and you can assign IP rights at that stage.

When I started, I sold as much to the company as I legitimately could and made sense to reduce the tax bill.

 

[arnydnxluk]

You don't need to do anything unless you want the company to take ownership of the laptop for tax purposes. You're free to use your personal laptop for business reasons.

If you're not too fussed about the tax element (which in my opinion just needlessly complicates things unless your laptop was very expensive) then just keep your laptop in your name and have it for personal and business usage as you see fit. If the business is successful and you need a new laptop in future, you can then buy the new one through the company.

 

[Panoramix IP]

Any IP should be assigned at an early stage if it is important for the company to own it. A simple assignment document would suffice either in the form of a deed or a standard agreement with nominal consideration. This doesn’t have to be expensive. I charge £75 to provide a suitable document to effect IP assignment. If you go to a big law firm it will cost a whole lot more but the end result will be the same.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I don't think it is worth the bother it might blow up next week.
Wait until you replace it then put it through the company
It is only a second hand laptiop