S2: Intellectual Property In addition to the confidentiality and noncompete prov
ID: 459739 • Letter: S
Question
S2: Intellectual Property
In addition to the confidentiality and noncompete provisions, the employee handbook also contained a section about intellectual property. Employees are required to disclose any inventions made during the period of employment that are related to the company's business. Devlin created a new app that will make it easier for customers to order food for delivery or takeout. The app provides additional access for blind and deaf customers so that they can also place orders by using the app. Devlin searched the patent applications and did not find any other patent that was similar to his new food-ordering app and intends to file for protection of his patent as soon as possible.
Evaluate the arguments for FSPC and Devlin concerning ownership of the invention under the following assumptions:
Devlin did not use any company resources, including time, to create the app.
Devlin used some company time and a computer to develop the app.
Explanation / Answer
Devlin did not use any company resources, including time, to create the app.
It depends on the kind of company Devlin is working in. If the company is also app provider for take away food, now Devlin has been working on something related to his employer’s business. In such cases, even when Devlin did not use any company resources, including time, to create the app, company still has right over his invention. If the company has nothing to do with food apps or any related business, the company would have no ownership on the app created by Devlin.
It also depends on the kind of job he performed in his company. It can also be argued that the codes for the app are as a result of the on job training that the company provided to Devlin as part of his regular work at his company. It would eventually come down to if Devlin has used any of the code he learned or took from work.
Devlin used some company time and a computer to develop the app.
In case Devlin had used some of company’s time or resources, the company would gain the rights of the invention. It may not matter how small the resource utilization is during the course of invention. The law prescribes only usage of resources, not the extent of usage. To elaborate, even if Devlin had developed the entire app at home during non office hours and used office printer to get some print out of the code, it would still make company part owner of the invention. Yeah. It sucks.
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