Employee invention law
Covered for all eventualities
By far the largest share of inventions is made by employees, which raises the question of who is the owner of these inventions.
Since the regulations of the employee invention law directly affect the rights and obligations to an invention, failure to observe or misapplication of these regulations can lead to undesirable results and protracted disputes between employer and employee.
Our attorneys have extensive expertise in the field of employee invention law in order to individually address all issues of importance to you and - ideally even before an invention is made - to develop suitable strategies, flowcharts and forms.
Legislative solutions
On the one hand, according to labor law aspects, the result of an employee's work belongs to the employer, whereas according to the Patent Act, the inventor, i.e. the person who made the invention, is entitled to the patent. The Employee Inventions Act provides the solution to the conflict of these conflicting interests of employer and employee by regulating, among other things, who owns a service invention, i.e. an invention made by an employee, under what conditions, how a service invention differs from other inventions, and, if the service invention is transferred from the employee to the employer by claiming it, that and from when the employee is entitled to appropriate remuneration in return.
Need
The legal provisions governing employee inventions may affect an employer's rights and obligations. An employer who does not fulfill all of its obligations may not be able to benefit from employee patents or obtain legal protection from any claims by its employees.