Invention Rights at the Work Place in New Zealand - Research Paper Example

The conclusions arrived at were that New Zealand workplace inventions will be owned by the employer. In countries like the UK and the US also, ownership rights are retained by the employer. Some countries like Japan promote the practice of compensating employees for their inventions.

On many occasions, the courts have been seen to favour the employer while dealing with ownership rights. However, the courts recommend compensation to the employee for foregoing his invention rights in the workplace. In this regard, they have taken into consideration several issues, like the duty of fidelity in employment, employee confidentiality, and whether the invention was made in the course of employment. The case law addressing these issues, in various countries, was scrutinised.

Finally, recommendations were made to effect changes to the extant laws and procedures in New Zealand. Some employees develop inventions or creative content during their employment. These are beneficial to the employer, and such benefit is enhanced significantly if such knowledge is not shared with other firms. For this reason, many employers restrict their employees from using information gained from working on the invention.

Employers also restrict employees from using the inventions they have developed and the processes involved in that inventions. In some cases, employers restrict free access to new technologies or knowledge developed in the firm. In the US, a large number of legal provisions favour the employer in obtaining full control over the inventions and other creative content developed by employees.

The nature of the employment relationship and the circumstances that result in the innovation play a significant role in determining the patent rights of the employees. Litigation related to patent rights is expensive and time-consuming. Thus, predictability of ownership helps employees and employers to resolve their disputes over ownership, without having to resort to litigation. To eliminate the risk faced by employers in employment contracts, some employers draft employment contracts that are patently biased in their favour. However, this defeats the purpose; as such employment contracts have limited enforceability.

Employees are hired to fulfil the goals of the company. They offer their capabilities and functions to the company so that the shareholders and owners of the company benefit. This is the employment relationship between the employer and the employee. The employees are benefitted from this relationship as their toil is rewarded with wages. Apart from wages, employees also receive other benefits, which may not derive from the employment.