Custom Silicone Mold Ownership: Mold, CAD, Master and Reorder Rights
Mold, CAD, master pattern, metal tool and archive rights are different assets. Define them on the quotation, PO or NDA. Payment of a design fee does not answer every question.
Kyler Yang · Founder9 min read
“Who owns the mold?” can mean the physical production mold, native CAD, the master pattern, metal tooling, a support shell, artwork, archived job data, or the right to reproduce or transfer the design. Those items should be named in the quotation, purchase order, tooling agreement or NDA. Paying a design or tooling charge does not automatically settle every right.
Separate the assets
- Physical production mold or finished-part tool
- CAD / design files - confirm whether native files transfer
- Your artwork / IP - you usually license use for the job
- Master pattern vs support shell (jacket)
- Archive / job records and how long they are kept
- Reorder and transfer to another supplier
If you need exclusivity, a release-on-request clause, or a storage term, put it in writing. We do not invent a default competitor-transfer fee or a default “buyer owns all CAD” rule on this page.
Confidentiality is a different article: NDA and IP. Logistics: archive service.