Williams Mullen's Trending Now - An IP Podcast - Intellectual Contracts
Protecting IP Through Employment Law
On September 15, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law that made dramatic changes to the enforceability of invention assignment provisions in employment agreements and likely in related agreements including offer...more
On May 24, 2023, Governor Walz signed off on Minnesota legislation prohibiting employers from entering into non-compete agreements with employees or independent contractors. How will this new law affect your business? What...more
Intellectual property assets are the lifeblood of many businesses today. No employer wants to see those assets walk out the door when an employee leaves. Employee invention assignment agreements are one crucial tool for...more
Improperly Drafted Employment Agreement Leads to Dismissal of Patent Case Due to Lack of Standing - In Advanced Video Technologies LLC v. HTC Corporation et al., Appeal Nos. 2016-2309, 2016-2310, 2016-2311, the Federal...more
What is the difference between an employment agreement that says “I hereby assign inventions I create during my employment to my employer,” and one that says “I will assign inventions I create during my employment to my...more
Patent owners and employers: Pay attention to the words in assignment and employment agreements that transfer patent ownership to you. A recent Federal Circuit case once again emphasizes the need to use particular language to...more
Federal Circuit Summaries - Before Newman, O’Malley, and Reyna. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Summary: A co-inventor did not transfer ownership interests in a...more
In a digital society dominated by the saying, “there’s an app for that,” copyright protection is essential. Paying to have a work created does not automatically vest ownership of the copyright in the paying party. When making...more
Physicians are well-positioned to generate new inventions and thereby improve the treatment of their patients. As a result, physicians have historically been some of the best and most active inventors in the United States. ...more
Many assignments of intellectual property are ineffective for failing to actually convey title as the parties intended. U.S. law is clear that only individuals may be inventors, who then may assign their inventions to...more
Properly prepared patent assignments and IP assignment clauses in employment agreements can play a critical role in an IPR proceeding — for example, by preventing your own patent applications from becoming invalidating prior...more
Oftentimes, a patent case will not be decided by patent law, but by employment law. If an invention was developed by an employee or a third-party contractor without the proper agreements in place, the company may find itself...more