Employee Transfer of Inventions & Patents in Oklahoma
A number of legal issues are involved in the assignment of an invention from an employee to his or her employer. Tomlinson, Rust, McKinstry & Grable intellectual property attorneys routinely consult with our clients on legal strategies to protect the rights of both the employee and employer in such situations.
Generally, if an employee invents or creates something within the scope of employment, the employer will own the invention or thing created. Nevertheless, employers can ensure ownership with an invention-assignment agreement, typically signed by the employee prior to accepting employment. Our intellectual property group can help advise in situations where employees create something for the benefit of employers.
Other arrangements, including “work made for hire”, “hired to invent” and “shop rights,” involve more complicated legal concepts. Our intellectual property attorneys can help you sort through these and other issues. Our legal expertise includes:
- working with CEOs, general counsel and business owners to ensure their interests are protected when dealing with employee inventors
- working with clients to develop sound policies to govern the transfer of inventions and patents from employees to the employer
- working with our clients’ employees to harvest new invention disclosures from employees
- advising clients on their intellectual property strategy as it relates to employees, such as how to reward them for innovation while ensuring the company maintains ownership of the intellectual property
Learn more about how Tomlinson, Rust, McKinstry & Grable can help:
- Patent Litigation & Law »
- Copyright Infringement Litigation »
- Trademark Litigation & Law »
- Intellectual Property Licensing & Law »
- Trade Secrets, Non-Compete & Non-Solicitation Litigation »
