From the course: Understanding Intellectual Property

Unlock the full course today

Join today to access over 23,500 courses taught by industry experts.

Patent ownership

Patent ownership

From the course: Understanding Intellectual Property

Start my 1-month free trial Buy for my team

Patent ownership

“

- Patent ownership. One of the most important and pervasive issues with all areas of intellectual property is the issue of ownership. Who owns this particular intellectual property? We ask that question with copyright and trademark law, and it's no different with patents who owns it is a really important thing, and it's a little bit complex because patents can't be invented by companies. Trademark rights can be created by a company. Copyrights can be created by companies that hire employees to create works for the company. But patents are not invented by companies. Patents are invented by people. Companies that hire inventors can only own patent rights by way of assignment. The company must contract with a person, whether as an independent contractor or as an employee to end up owning patents, but they still have to list the individual humans as inventors on the patent and then file a patent assignment. Therefore, they sign an agreement when they're at the beginning of employment that…

Contents