Who owns patent rights—employers or employees




















For example, the employee may need to execute an assignment in favor of the employer, or sign declarations or provide information in connection with patent lawsuits. A cooperation clause will prevent the employee from holding the employer hostage by refusing to assist with the protection and enforcement of the patent.

Post-termination Trailer Clause. The agreement should also include a post-termination clause, which requires the employee to assign inventions or ideas conceived for a period of time after the employment ends.

Although there are no Oregon decisions directly on point, trailer clauses have been analogized to noncompetition provisions, so to be safe, the trailer period should not be longer than the permissible non-competition provisions. A comprehensive agreement should also include a remedies provision which supports a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunction to enforce the performance of the inventorship clauses.

Intellectual property rights are valuable assets. Sophisticated and well-advised employers should capture these rights up front as part of their standard employment documentation. Originally published in the summer edition of the Oregon Association of Defense Council's publication, The Verdict. Ownership of Inventions An inventor is presumed to own his inventions. Drafting tips are set forth below: Scope of Assignment.

Conclusion Intellectual property rights are valuable assets. Endnotes [1] Tees v. Practice Areas. Whether it was created at the employer's premises, or at the employee's home, does not affect ownership. An engineer is part of a team of co-workers that are together working on a solution for a new mechanical device, but they just can't get it to work. The engineer calls a friend who is a patent attorney, who advises him that the valve is sufficiently novel, and non-obvious to be patentable.

Only after filing the application does the engineer disclose the valve to the employer, and makes a proposal that the employer license the innovation from the engineer in return for royalties. The engineer's employment duties were to solve the technical problem of making the mechanical device work.

If an employee could claim that ideas that entered the employee's mind after working hours belonged to the employee, employers who pay employees' salaries to develop intellectual property would never own any intellectual property.

General enquiries: 13 QGOV 13 74 Home Running a business Protecting your business Intellectual property info kit Browse by IP topic Ownership of intellectual property created by your employees and contractors or consultants Do I own intellectual property that my employees create?

Ownership of intellectual property created by your employees and contractors or consultants. Do I own intellectual property that my employees create? What terms do I include in employment contracts to protect my intellectual property?

Which employees should have these terms in their employment contracts? How can I protect my intellectual property at work? Do I own intellectual property created by independent contractors and consultants I engage? What should contractor and consultant agreements provide for? Who owns the intellectual property created by a volunteer? IP protects original works of the mind, such as literary and artistic works, inventions, designs, and company names. There are different ways to protect original ideas.

The method you choose depends on the kind of idea you have. Patents are the building blocks of innovation. But there are a lot of things a patent can't do. Learn how to protect your intellectual property rights—from copyrights to patents. If you collaborate on a project, you need to understand your rights as a co-creator. Copyrights and trademarks are both important tools in protecting your intellectual property, but knowing what you need can be confusing.

Business Management. If you are work in a creative field, it's essential that you understand the concept of "work made for hire"—including when that term does and doesn't apply to the work you've created. In the murky world of intellectual property, it is easy to confuse copyright, patent, and trademark law. But understanding these three very different legal areas is often the key to effectively protecting your intellectual property from would-be IP thieves. Starting a Business.

If you plan to operate your business out of your house, it's a good idea to know how your local zoning laws apply to you. Here's how to avoid accidentally stepping on the rights of another's creative work. Intellectual property disputes are incredibly common. Find out what intellectual property is and what your rights are. Employees' Rights to Intellectual Property Many people typically think of copyrights and patents as conveying IP rights to the creator or the inventor of the work in question, so it's important for employees to understand that there are exceptions to this general rule for works created or developed within the workplace context.



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