These articles introduce the types of agreements you need to protect your invention from others when you tell others about your invention. For example, when you are launching your inventive product, you may need to share your idea with investors, potential licensees, independent contractors and employees. You need to mitigate complications (e.g., inadvertent that might arise as you engage others. The types of agreements that will help to protect your idea include:

Confidentiality Agreements
Independent contractor's agreements
Invention Assignment agreements
Joint exploitation agreements

Can Multiple People Own a Patent?

Patents allow people and companies to claim ideas and inventions as their own. Nevertheless, it is quite confusing and tricky when multiple entities are involved. Disagreements can and do arise between the owners. You need to know how to address these potential pitfalls. Can multiple people own a patent? Yes, but we do not recommend […]

Losing Invention Rights When Hiring or Collaborating with Others

You thought you made the right choice involving an independent contractor or even your friends and family in the collaboration of your invention. It turns out that when you share your invention with others, you risk reducing the value of your invention rights. Why does this happen? The core issue is ownership. Who owns the invention or […]

Patent Assignments for Independent Contractors

Patent rights initially vest with the person that conceives of the invention. For example, if a company hires an independent contractors, patent rights initially vest with the independent contractor. If the company hiring the independent contractor wants to exploit the invention, the company must acquire the patent rights from the independent contractor through an assignment. […]

Avoid Problems: Get an Invention Assignment Agreement

Companies owns invention rights by one of three ways from employees. A formal Invention Assignment Agreement is typically executed when the employee begins employment. The Agreement assigns certain inventions of the employee to the company. Invention rights can also be acquired by way of the Employed-to-Invent doctrine. In particular, to the extent that the employer […]