Trust · IP · confidentiality
Your product, your IP.
How we handle your designs, data, and intellectual property.
IP transfers to you. Always.
No lock-in · no royaltiesEvery engagement transfers all intellectual property to the client at handover: CAD files, engineering drawings, Bills of Materials, supplier lists and engagement notes, FAI plans and reports, test reports, materials specifications, prototype tooling, the lot.
You own it all. You can take it elsewhere, to another design house, a different manufacturer, or your own in-house team, without losing anything. We don’t retain ownership stakes, ongoing royalties, or licensing positions in your product. This separates us from agencies that hold CAD-file ownership as soft lock-in, and from manufacturers who tie design IP to their tooling. We do neither.
NDA framework.
Every engagement · mutual or unilateralEvery paid engagement starts with an NDA, mutual or unilateral depending on context. We’ll send a standard mutual NDA for most projects, sign yours if you have a preferred template, or sign unilaterally to your benefit if the project warrants it. We’ll happily sign a short NDA before the scoping call if the spec details shouldn’t move outside the room; just flag it in the intake.
What it covers: project specifics, designs, files, supplier choices, commercial detail, and business strategy as it affects engineering decisions. What it doesn’t cover: the existence of the engagement (disclosed only with explicit permission), and general engineering knowledge that exists outside your project.
How files are handled.
Secure storage · limited access · retentionStorage
Client project files live in private cloud storage (Notion, private Google Workspace, or encrypted local archives, depending on format). No client files in public folders, marketing assets, or unsecured channels.
Internal access
Dave (Founding Engineer) has access to every project. Named subcontractors get scoped access only when brought into a project, only to the files relevant to their part, and only for their engagement duration.
Retention
Files are kept for the engagement plus a defined archive period (typically 12 months) so you can return for re-supply or v2 work without friction. Beyond that they’re archived to encrypted cold storage; deletable on written request.
AI tooling
Where AI accelerates routine work (drafting, materials shortlisting, regulation-mapping), we use enterprise-grade tools with data-handling terms compatible with your NDA. Client files are not used to train public models.
Portfolio publication policy.
Explicit written permission onlyWe don’t publish client names, product photographs, or specific engagement detail without explicit written permission. The default is anonymous; named publication is opt-in, not opt-out. For sensitive engagements (manufacturer-diversification programmes, IP-novel pre-patent products, regulated B2B) we won’t publish at all, even anonymised. The fact of the engagement is yours to disclose, not ours.
Every client quote on this site is in the client’s own words, from the testimonials they gave us or the reviews they posted on Google.
For manufacturers diversifying.
Partition discipline · no leakageThe recurring concern: “if you work with us and a competitor, do our designs leak?” No, by structural discipline, not trust alone. Project files don’t cross-reference. Engineering choices for one client aren’t reused for another. Supplier choices are isolated; we don’t introduce competing manufacturers to each other through us. If a project is too sensitive for even partitioned co-existence, we decline the second engagement. We’ve turned down work in that bucket before; the first client’s confidentiality is the binding constraint.
Legal entity, data, and the policies.
Cast Iron CAD Ltd · 07353071Operating entity: Cast Iron CAD Ltd, Company No. 07353071, registered office Studio 01, Plus X Innovation Brighton, BN2 4GL. Our Amazon-vertical supporting practice Primed.Design trades under the same legal entity: same engineering bench and IP discipline, separate brand surface.
Data processing: client data is processed under UK GDPR; the intake form captures personal data only as needed for the engagement (see the Privacy Policy). Cookies: this site sets none, and visit counts come from server logs (see the Cookie Policy). Accessibility: we target WCAG 2.1 Level AA (see the Accessibility Statement).
Ask us
A specific question about IP or confidentiality?
Mention it in the intake and we'll address it directly on the scoping conversation. We can sign an NDA before the call if your project is at that sensitivity level.