IP for SaaS - How to Protect Your Business

A practical session for SaaS founders on IP, ownership and protecting what you’re building. Your code, your product name, your brand, that clever bit of workflow you’re quietly proud of. It’s all IP, and most founders don’t think about it until someone else is using it. Savvy businesses protect their IP with trade secrets, trade marks, copyright and more. Spend an afternoon with the team from IPONZ, alongside other founders asking the same questions. Leave knowing what you own, what you don’t, and what to do next. Afternoon tea is provided from 3:30pm, with the event starting at 4pm. Stay afterwards for networking drinks with the experts and other founders. The IPONZ experts - Alicia Baxter is Principal Business Advisor (IP Strategy) at IPONZ, working across NZ's commercialisation ecosystem where she focuses on driving early engagement to make sure the value of IP is understood upfront, not after the fact. With a BSc(Hons) in Chemistry from the University of Auckland and a double major in chemistry and genetics from Massey University, Alicia joined IPONZ in 2021 as a patent examiner and progressed to Senior Patent Examiner before moving into business-facing roles, including Business Advisor at MBIE and Business Lead at IPONZ. Alicia is passionate about positioning IP as a core business asset and helping innovators turn great ideas into commercial outcomes. Jeanette Singh is a Principal Trade Mark Examiner at IPONZ with more than 25 years’ experience in intellectual property law across the public and private sectors. She began her career at IPONZ before spending more than 15 years at Bell Gully, where she progressed to Senior Associate and advised across trade marks, copyright, designs and broader IP matters. Her experience includes drafting commercial IP contracts, leading IP due diligence projects and providing franchising advice. Jeanette has also run her own IP practice advising start-ups. While her expertise spans intellectual property, her particular passion is trade marks and the way this area continues to evolve. Dr Penny Walsh delivers core IP services for IPONZ and is passionate about making intellectual property easier to understand and use. With a PhD in Chemistry and a background as a registered New Zealand patent attorney, Penny brings a strong combination of scientific and practical IP expertise. She has worked with clients across a wide range of industries to protect and manage their intellectual property, with experience spanning patents, trade marks, copyright and broader IP issues. Penny particularly enjoys contributing to IP education and helping people build the knowledge and confidence to make informed decisions about their intellectual property.