What if there is no contract concerning the employees inventions?
If there is no contract concerning inventive rights and the employee develops an invention independently of the employer, the employer is unlikely to have any right to the invention. If the employee was not hired to solve a particular problem by coming up with an invention for the employer, but the employee uses employer resources during the inventive process, the situation is more complex. The shop-right doctrine gives the employer an interest in the employee’s invention. The employer will not own the patent for the invention, but it will have the nonexclusive right to use, manufacture or sell the invention, without paying royalties, for an unlimited time. The employer may not sell or transfer this right to anyone else.
