01 June 2008

How to reward inventive employees

Managing Intellectual Property

An Australian court has considered the issue of who owns IP generated by employees. Suzy Groom puts the decision in context

One-minute read

The question of who owns the IP produced by innovative employees is a complex and at times controversial topic. Some of the most high-profile litigation in the last few years has taken place in Japan, where disgruntled employees have demanded greater compensation for their inventions. Now an important decision in Australia, a jurisdiction with no specific system for dealing with this issue, has reopened the debate. The Australia verdict underlines how important it is that employers – whether they are in the EU, US, Japan or Australia – are aware of this issue and ensure that they draft clear and comprehensive work contracts to deal with who owns any IP generated by their employees.

With the exception of Australia and the United States, most industrialized countries have implemented specific regimes that govern the ownership of IP generated by inventive employees. Most of these countries have some requirement that inventive employees be rewarded for their creativity.

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How to reward inventive employees

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