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You are here: Home / Invention agreements / Patent Assignments for Independent Contractors

Patent Assignments for Independent Contractors

June 29, 2010 by James Yang

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.  Companies should negotiate with the independent contractor before hiring the independent contractor with respect to ownership of the intellectual property.  Will the independent contractor solely own the intellectual property?  Will they share ownership?  Will the company have all rights to any and all intellectual property created for the project?

Problems arise when the company does not have an agreement by the independent contractor to assign inventions to the company.  In this situation, the independent contractor owns the invention even though the company hired the independent contractor.  The company may have a license or the right to use the invention due to the nature of the relationship between the independent contractor and the company.  However, the company cannot exploit the patent rights because the independent contractor owns the invention, not the company.  The company cannot license the patent rights to another, cannot file a patent application on the invention, etc.  As such, it is important to negotiate ownership terms with independent contractors before engagement.

In relation to employer-employee relationships, read Avoid Problems: Get an Invention Assignment Agreement.

You may also be interested in Conflicting Invention Assignment Clauses.

Related Articles for Invention Agreements

  • How to tell others about your idea without losing invention rights?
  • 4 basic intellectual property agreements inventors need to protect their inventions
  • Understanding a confidentiality agreement: when and how to use them
  • Patent Assignments Independent Contractors
  • Common ownership problems for those new to patents
  • Avoid Problems – Get an Invention Assignment Agreement

For more information, please feel FREE to contact me at (949) 433-0900 or [email protected]

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James Yang is a patent attorney. For more than 16 years, James Yang has been representing clients to secure patent protection for their inventions and register trademarks to protect their brands. If you need help, call him at (949) 433-0900. Read More…

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