Inventions can be financially rewarding for both employee inventors and their employers. In Germany, the Employee Invention Law regulates the fair balance of interests between employees and employers.
Employee Invention Law
The principle is simple: the employer can claim ownership of an invention that was the idea of an employed inventor. In return, the employed inventor is entitled to reasonable compensation. This can create an administrative burden for companies, but it is also a great incentive for innovation.
We regularly advise on the following topics:
- Correct handling of internal company correspondence from the invention disclosure onwards and of flat-rate compensation agreements.
- Handling of inventions in a corporate group and in cooperation and development agreements.
- Decisions on claiming or releasing an invention.
- Calculation of compensation amounts in individual cases according to the official guidelines.
- Clarification of the claims of former employees against their former employers.
- Handling of compensation claims when transferring an industrial property right to third parties or in the event of a transfer of ownership.
- Questions regarding co-inventorship and the shares of co-inventors in the invention.
- Settlement negotiations between employers and (former) employees and the enforcement of their interests in court.
- Identification of inventions made (but not yet reported) in new products (‘patent scouting’).
Our attorneys can also train employees and patent departments in how to recognise inventions and handle them.
Practice Areas
Our attorneys can advise on many areas of intellectual property in relation to both non-contentious and contentious, and across all worldwide jurisdictions.
Contact Maucher Jenkins
Our IP attorneys and staff in London are trained in searching and watching, filing and prosecution of our clients’ intellectual property.