A Practical Guide to the Ownership of Employee Inventions – From Entitlement to Compensation

Businesses need to understand the value in inventions, but do not always fully appreciate the relationship between their employees, the inventions they create and who owns the result. In this book, oriented to the business executive and written in straightforward language we guide the reader through the detail and procedures relating to employee inventions, explaining under what circumstances a person is a relevant employee so that their inventions become those of their employers. The law is specified in the Patents Act 1977 but there are circumstances where the factual position as to who is an employee, and whether their invention belongs to an employer is not so clear cut. The commentary takes the reader through a series of cases and a course of commentary to explain this area of law.

There has also been recent judicial attention as to the level of compensation which ought to be paid to employees for inventions that benefit their employer. We explain the concept of making a contribution which is of outstanding benefit to the employer, and in what circumstances the employer’s benefits deriving from the invention, the patent for it or both can then require a fair share to be paid to the employee. What was a little known part of patent law has been brought to the fore by this book and is given the prominence and explanation that it deserves.