Intellectual Property FAQ For Psychometrics

We also offer a service where we design custom measurement frameworks for agencies and brands—tools like a “Brand Love Score” or “Brand Growth Scale.” Most often, clients come to us with an initial concept or name for a measurement they want to create, and our job is to turn that idea into a robust, research-backed framework.

How the process works:
Through a series of four collaborative workshops, we take the client’s idea and develop it into a structured measurement tool. This includes:

• Three core factors (for example: Business Growth, Consumer Growth, Cultural Growth)

• Six supporting facets, two under each factor (for example: under “Consumer Growth,” the facets might be “Need Growth” and “Word of Mouth”)

Who owns what:
The idea and name for the measurement (e.g., “Brand Growth Scale”) are yours. However, the structure we build to bring that idea to life—our way of organizing factors, defining facets, and applying our research methodology—is part of Inkblot’s intellectual property. This includes our frameworks, processes, and any proprietary ways of thinking that make the measurement effective.

We clarify this ownership for two reasons:

1. To protect our investment in creating reliable measurement tools. We’ve developed these methods over years of research and want to retain ownership of the frameworks that make them work.

2. To prevent conflicts between clients. In some cases, we may develop a similar measure for another client with comparable needs. By maintaining ownership of the underlying methodology, we ensure transparency and avoid disputes about who “owns” the building blocks of a measurement.

This approach allows us to:

• Keep improving our tools by learning from each engagement

• Maintain consistent quality across projects

• Offer custom measurements at a cost-effective price

• Ensure that your ideas stay yours, while our process stays ours

Once we’ve developed your custom measurement framework, we then create the survey instrument—the actual set of ~18 survey items used to measure the idea (for example, the questions that make up the “Brand Growth Scale”).

Who owns the survey items:
Inkblot owns the survey items that compose the measurement. This is an important distinction and is primarily to prevent misunderstandings or disputes. Here’s why:

• We maintain a library of high-performing survey questions. Over years of research, we’ve developed and refined questions that work exceptionally well across brands and categories.

• We occasionally reuse proven items. To make your measurement as strong and predictive as possible, we may incorporate one or two of these proven questions into your survey. These same items might also appear in other client measurements when they are relevant and add value.

By retaining ownership of the survey items themselves, we ensure that:

• Clients don’t mistakenly believe they have exclusive rights to a question that could benefit others.

• No disputes arise between clients or with Inkblot regarding “who owns” an individual question or set of items.

What this means for you:
The idea, concept, and name of your measurement remain yours. If you decide to work with another research provider in the future, you are free to develop a completely new measurement with them. The only limitation is that it cannot replicate the exact survey items and structure created by Inkblot.

This approach allows us to:

• Deliver the highest-quality measurement possible by using proven tools

• Protect clients and Inkblot from potential intellectual property conflicts

• Continue improving our question library for the benefit of all clients

To be clear, if you woke up tomorrow and said "I want to use a new vendor", you could go commission a new measurement of your idea (e.g., Brand Growth Scale) with someone else. It just couldn't be similar to the current items we provided in our measure. 

A Measurement Survey is any larger survey that includes your custom measurement (the ~18 items) along with other sections. This survey could be used with one of your clients, or for a pitch. It’s designed to give you a fuller picture of a brand or campaign performance, and it’s built using Inkblot’s proprietary research process and templates.

Who owns the Measurement Surveys:
Because these surveys draw on Inkblot’s intellectual property—including question banks, tested templates, proprietary assessments, and analytical methods—the survey instrument itself is owned by Inkblot.

Why we retain ownership:

1. To protect our investment in high-quality research tools. We’ve spent years refining survey designs that deliver accurate, actionable insights across different industries and client needs.

2. To prevent conflicts between clients. Our Measurement Surveys often use proven question formats and diagnostics that may appear in multiple surveys. By keeping ownership, we avoid disputes about whether a question or section “belongs” to a specific client.

This approach ensures we can:

• Maintain consistent quality and reliability across all projects

• Keep our services affordable by leveraging proven methodologies

• Continuously improve our surveys based on accumulated research experience

• Protect both our clients and Inkblot from unnecessary intellectual property disputes

The intellectual property we've created for our research services has been built into our own survey platform we call Inkblot Assessments.

Inkblot Assessments is also where our survey links are created. 

Therefore, the surveys links we create are owned by us. 

This is a natural extension of our platform ownership, as these links are direct access points into our proprietary technology infrastructure.

We claim ownership of survey links for two primary reasons:

1. Each link is an integral part of our Inkblot Assessment platform, serving as a secure gateway to our proprietary research tools and methodology
2. We need to maintain control over these access points to protect the integrity of our platform, ensure proper data collection, and maintain consistency in how our research tools are deployed

Just as we own the platform and survey content, we must retain ownership of the technical means of accessing them.

If you've ever seen our reports, we provide additional data points beyond the scope of your project. For example, in a creative test where we test two ads, we might provide benchmarks so you know if the ad does better or worse than other ads we've tested. 

In other cases, clients have come to us asking if we have any data points on specific things (e.g., "do you know if people are starting to buy cheaper products due to inflation?"). They might want stats for these without having to launch a survey,

The only way we can provide services like this is by owning the data to the research that we execute in our plans. Therefore, the data we collect are owned by us. This allows us to:

1. Build comprehensive benchmarks that help contextualize your results
2. Identify broader market trends across different industries and time periods
3. Provide quick insights to pressing questions without requiring new research
4. Continuously improve our understanding of consumer behavior

If we own the data, this prevents any disputes between Inkblot and clients about whether or not data is benefitting other clients. Let me explain with a practical example:

Say we run a survey about coffee consumption habits for Client A, and three months later, Client B asks us about general coffee drinking trends. If the data ownership was unclear, Client A might feel their research investment is being used to benefit their competitors. By clearly establishing that Inkblot owns the underlying data:

1. We avoid situations where clients might claim exclusive rights to consumer insights
2. We can confidently use aggregated data to provide industry benchmarks without legal concerns
3. Everyone understands upfront that while their specific insights are private, the raw data contributes to our broader knowledge base
4. We maintain a clear boundary between client-specific insights (which belong to the client) and the underlying data (which belongs to us)

This structure creates a win-win situation: clients get the benefit of both their specific research insights AND our accumulated knowledge from years of research, while avoiding any complicated ownership disputes that could arise if multiple clients felt they had exclusive rights to certain data points.

This is the underlying formulas used to power the Platform's AI. For example, the formulas are used (1) to calculate the custom measurement (e.g., Brand Growth Score) and (2) to predict business outcomes (e.g., "brand buzz") by using the measurement.

Inkblot owns the algorithms that power the platform's AI. These algorithms are trained across all of Inkblot's data, and used as a base algorithm in all client instances. They are then trained to work specifically for the client's framework (e.g., Brand Growth) and measurement (e.g., the Brand Growth Scale) using the client's data.

This is the Inkblot Assessment platform that we white label and customize to host a client's framework and measurements. 

• Inkblot owns the Inkblot Assessment Platform. This is licensed to you to use.
• If you were to suggest we develop a new feature (e.g., emotion identification from facial expressions) we have a right to use that idea, and own that addition to the platform.
• To be clear, if you woke up tomorrow and said "I want to use a new vendor", you could go white label someone else's platform for your score. You just couldn't have them build features similar to the current platform.
• Additionally, if you woke up tomorrow and wanted to build your own platform, you could. It just couldn't have features similar to Inkblot's platform.

When we complete a report for you, whether for our measurement services or research services, we provide you with valuable reports, dashboards, and other materials that contain your insights. Think of these like books you buy from your favorite author:

• When you buy a book, you own that physical copy
• You can read it, share it within your organization, and use its insights
• However, the author retains ownership of the actual content, story, and writing

Our deliverables work the same way. When we provide you with research reports:

• You receive a license to use these materials within your organization
• You can freely apply the insights to improve your business
• You can share the findings with your team and stakeholders
• You can reference the data and conclusions in your planning

However, just as an author maintains ownership of their written work, we retain ownership of our deliverables. This is because:

1. Our reports and dashboards are built using our proprietary templates, analytical frameworks, and visualization methods that we've developed over years
2. We often use consistent ways of presenting data across clients to maintain quality and efficiency
3. Like an author who might use similar storytelling techniques across books, we apply our proven research frameworks across projects

This structure allows us to:

• Keep improving our reporting methods
• Maintain consistent quality across all deliverables
• Deliver insights faster using our established frameworks
• Provide you with better value through our refined approach

You're getting the full benefit of our research expertise while we maintain the ability to keep developing better ways to deliver insights to all our clients.