Do Employees Own The Patent Rights to Their Inventions

Suppose you are employed by a technology company, and you create your own invention, who is entitled to hold the patent rights to that invention? Is it you, the inventor? Or is it your employer by virtue of your employment contract? Last week, we briefly touched on Section 10 of the Industrial Property Act. Subsection 4 of the provision states that where an invention is made in execution of a contract of employment, the right to the patent shall, absent any prior agreement, belong to the employer. While this might suggest that patent rights automatically belong to the employer as long as you are an employee, the attitude of the Courts, as seen in case law, is not always so straightforward.

Download Pdf Article