We plan to bring eChai across 100 cities in India. It starts with eChai Startup Demo Day on 26 September, all in person. 13 cities confirmed, 698 founders registered. Any city that reaches 20 interested founders is on too. See your city

Co-founders, team & legal

IP, licenses & regulatory

Protect your idea, stay legal to sell.

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Can I protect my idea with a patent or an NDA before I launch? A pure idea can't be patented, patents protect a specific, novel, non-obvious invention, not a concept or a business model. An NDA can protect a co... Beginner 3 resources → When is an NDA actually worth it, and when is it just theatre? An NDA earns its keep with vendors, contractors, employees, and manufacturing partners who touch real trade secrets, source code, or customer data,... Beginner 2 resources → Trademark vs patent vs copyright, which one do I actually need? For most founders, a trademark is the one that matters: it protects your brand name and logo so nobody else can trade under it, and it's cheap and ... Beginner 3 resources → How do I check if my brand name is free, and how do I trademark it in India? Before you print a single business card, run your name through the free IP India public trademark search to see if it's already claimed in your cla... Intermediate 2 resources → I'm DPIIT-recognised, what IP benefits does Startup India actually give me? Real, usable money: an 80% rebate on patent filing fees, a 50% rebate on trademark filing, and a government-empanelled facilitator whose profession... Intermediate 2 resources → I'm building fintech (payments/lending), do I need an RBI licence to launch? Very likely yes, payments, lending, and money movement are RBI-regulated, and you can't quietly launch and hope no one notices. A payment aggregato... Advanced 1 resource → Who legally owns the code and design if I hired a freelancer or agency to build my product? By default, the freelancer or agency owns the IP they create, not you, and paying the invoice does not transfer copyright automatically. You need a... Intermediate 3 resources → Do I need employment contracts and IP assignment from my co-founders and first employees, or is a handshake fine? A handshake means your co-founder can legally walk with a chunk of the IP and equity, so never operate on trust alone here. Every founder and emplo... Intermediate 2 resources → I'm building an app that collects user data. What does the DPDP Act actually require me to do? India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 makes you a data fiduciary the moment you collect personal data, so you owe clear consent, a sta... Advanced 3 resources → I'm doing a paid pilot with a big company and they sent a 20-page contract. What clauses actually matter? The clauses that will hurt you are IP ownership (do not let them own what you build for other clients), liability caps (never accept unlimited liab... Advanced 3 resources →

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