Internal Processes and Assignments

Most of the software, designs, texts, inventions and brands a company produces come from its employees; whether that intellectual property belongs to the company is therefore often decided in employment contracts and internal processes. We plan intellectual property obligations in relationships with employees and business partners, structure assignments of rights and review your internal contracts with this in mind.

Who owns intellectual property created by an employee?

Under the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works, the economic rights in works created by an employee in the course of their work belong to the employer unless otherwise agreed. However, the moral rights arising from authorship, such as the right to be named as the creator of the work, remain with the employee and cannot be transferred; the contract should set out how these rights will be exercised.

For inventions, the employee invention rules of the Industrial Property Law apply. An employee must notify the employer in writing of a service invention made in the course of their duties or based on the business’s experience and work. The employer may claim rights in the invention within a set period; in that case the employee is paid reasonable remuneration.

Why do internal intellectual property processes matter?

In funding rounds, company sales and infringement cases, the first question is who owns the intellectual property. Having assignments of rights, invention notification processes and confidentiality undertakings in place from the start for employees, interns and managers means that question can be answered with documents.

Scope

• Planning the contractual obligations to be put in place with company employees
• Assessing and rewriting existing internal contracts from an intellectual property law perspective
• Preparing the documents needed for internal obligations and keeping them ready as required
• Intellectual property risk analysis in disputes between employees and the company

How We Work

1. Identifying the departments and processes in which the company creates intellectual property
2. Reviewing intellectual property, confidentiality and invention provisions in employment contracts
3. Preparing assignment of rights, confidentiality undertaking and invention notification forms
4. Setting up the invention notification and assessment process within the company
5. Practical briefings for HR and R&D teams