The so-called "greenfields" development of new intellectual property through patents and trade secret protection is exciting and challenging. Maintaining confidentiality is a crucial aspect when it comes to working with third parties and the attempt to reach a common goal. In these instances, it is our job to protect our clients’ interests in a paramount fashion, while not delaying or otherwise detracting from the project. This involves working with the client and third parties to secure the intellectual property by way of cooperative development and research agreements to carve out the rights to the patents and other intellectual property developed as part of the project. Such cooperative development and research agreements serve the valuable purpose of initially addressing the rights of all involved, thereby avoiding any possible confusion and disputes later in the project's intellectual property life cycle.