Patent Attorney In Denver Discusses Patent Ownership For Employees – Part 1 of 3
Introduction: This morning we are interviewing Denver-area patent attorney Mark Trenner. Mark has been practicing as a patent attorney in Colorado for almost 14 years; the past 9 years at Trenner Law Firm. While his practice focuses primarily on helping small businesses protect their inventions with patents, Trenner Law Firm assists clients build out all aspects of their intellectual property portfolio, including copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.
Interviewer: The National Law Review recently published an article titled “Patent Ownership in Germany: Employers v Employees.” Why should our listeners be interested in German patent law?
Patent Attorney: First let me remind everyone that I am only licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and I am only licensed to practice law in the state of Colorado. That disclaimer aside, this article makes some good points that inventors here in the United States should also be aware of. The article starts of explaining that “The requirements of Germany’s Act on Employees’ Inventions (ArbEG), which governs how employees’ inventions are assigned to their employers, may be unknown by international companies with employees in Germany.”
Interviewer: So if I’m not an international company with employees in Germany, should I stop the video?
Patent Attorney: Not at all. While there is no uniform law in the United States governing assignment of inventions, that is, each state has its own law, any inventor who is also an employee should be aware that their company may require that they assign over rights in any invention they make to their employer.
For Part 2 of 3, follow this link: Patent Attorney In Denver Discusses Patent Ownership For Employees – Part 2 of 3