Invention Assignment and Work for Hire Agreements
The Purpose and Practical Application of Invention Assignment AgreementsIf you have a W2 employee who creates intellectual property on the job, for the most part the law presumes they are creating "work for hire," and that the intellectual property rights in what they create belong to the employer.
The "work for hire" piece is therefore somewhat optional in a traditional employment relationship, though may employers want to be sure, especially if their employees are creating a lot of content or new developments. The "invention assignment" piece is something not necessarily covered by the common law, and makes very clear that if they create something during employment that might be considered their intellectual property, it is assigned to the employer. These agreements become critical if you are using independent contractors in your business, because there is no similar presumption that what they create belongs to the employer. There are many examples of these agreements on the internet, which all may look the same to you. There are subtle distinctions, however, and it is important to discuss with an employment lawyer exactly what you want to protect and what you want to leave open to your employees to create in their off time without worrying about an intellectual property battle. Learn more here about invention assignment and work for hire agreements in Massachusetts. |
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Emily Smith-Lee is the owner and founder of slnlaw. She is a 1996 graduate of Boston College Law School. She was previously a partner at the Boston office of a large international firm, where she worked for thirteen years before starting the firm that became slnlaw in 2009. She has been recognized as Massachusetts Superlawyer each year since 2013, and in 2018 earned recognition as one of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly's Lawyers of the Year. She has written a book on employment law: Rules of the Road, What You Need to Know About Employment Laws in Massachusetts, and helped thousands of clients on both the employee and employer side with severance and non compete review and negotiation, wage and hour, discrimination and retaliation disputes, and advice about employment law generally.
Rebecca Rogers: Rebecca is a 2006 graduate of Boston College Law School, and has worked with slnlaw since 2013. She previously worked as an intellectual property litigation attorney for Fish & Richardson in Boston, Massachusetts, and clerked for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Rebecca has helped clients with wage and hour disputes, employment discrimination and retaliation claims, review and negotiation of severance and non compete agreements, and advice to both employees and employers about navigating complex employment situations.
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