Unintentionally Created a New Invention While Completing the Research Task at Work. To Whom does the Patent of This Invention Belong?

2020/1/8

It depends on the situation. If it is a service invention-creation, the right to apply for a patent belongs to the business entity. After the application is approved, the business entity shall be the patentee. There are two main situations for service invention-creation. The first is to perform the tasks. The second is the invention-creation made mainly by utilizing the material and technical conditions of the company. For example, if a company assigned A task to develop drug AP, and A successfully completes the task, then the invention patent of drug AP certainly belongs to the company. If someone is idle and has only one hour's workload per day, be free and at leisure spends all day in the laboratory of the company to study pharmacology and develop drug TX unintentionally. Such a situation is mainly the use of the material technical conditions of the company and also a service invention. Therefore, accord with above any kind of circumstance belongs to service invention, its patent application right belongs to company.

In fact, how to determine whether to use the material and technical conditions of the company to complete the invention and creation is more difficult. Therefore, the law stipulates that if there is an agreement between the employee and the employer in such a situation, it shall be handled in accordance with the agreement.

Of course, during the break, employees used their own materials and technical conditions to complete an invention that is not related to the task. This invention is obviously not a service invention. The right to apply for a patent for a non-service invention belongs to the inventor, and the owner of the patent after the patent is approved is also the inventor himself.