If Your Employment Agreements Use This One Word, Ownership of Your Patents May Be in Jeopardy
Carlton Fields shareholder Eleanor M. Yost asks and answers the question: 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 employer”?
The difference, she writes, is one word … and possibly millions of dollars.
The article on the firm’s website discusses a case from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that affirmed a decision that an employment agreement providing an employee “will assign” title to her inventions to her employer did not automatically transfer title or any related patent rights.