Untangling patent rights: when employees and contractors invent

UNTANGLINGPATENTRIGHTS:WHENEMPLOYEESANDCONTRACTORS
INVENT

YUHENGTOMZHANG*
ROBIC,LLP
LAWYERS,PATENTANDTRADEMARKAGENTS

Aninventortoapatentissomeonewhomakesaninventivecontributiontotheinvention
asclaimedinoneoftheclaimsofthatpatent.Itfollowsthattherightstothepatent
originateswiththeinventor1andtheserightscanthenbetransferredtoanotherparty.
Inmanycontexts,theinventororinventorswillbeanemployeeofacompanyandthat
companywilldesiretohavetherightsinthepatenttransferredtoit.Oneshouldnot
assumethatthistransferofrightswillnecessarilybeastraight-forwardprocessinevery
situation.WhiletheCopyrightActcontainsanexplicitprovisionthatmakestheemployer
thefirstownerofthecopyrightinanartisticworkcreatedbyanemployee2,ananalogous
provisionisnotfoundinthePatentAct.Therefore,whereasthecreatorofPassePartout
wasfoundtonotbetheownerofthecopyrightintheTVshowbecausehewasemployed
byTélé-Québecatthetime,theoutcomemaywellhavebeendifferentiftheissueinvolved
patentownership3.
Wedescribedinanearlierarticle4(EmployeeinventionsinCanada)thatanemployeeis
presumedtobetheownerofaninvention,evenwheretheinventionismadeduringwork
hours.IntheComstockdecision5,theFederalCourtdidcarveoutanexceptiontothisrule
forsituationswhereaninventionisconceivedbyanemployerwhoisemployedspecifically
toinventwillbelongtotheemployer.TheComstockdecisionalsosetsout8factorsto
considerwhenevaluatingwhetheranemployeehasspecificallybeenhiredtoinvent.
However,itshouldbekeptinmindthattheComstockdecisionisadecisioninvolvingan
employmentrelationshipthatoccurredoutsideofQuebec.6Theapproachandoutcome

©CIPS,2018.*YuhengTomZhangisalawyerandapatentagentforROBIC,LLP,afirmoflawyers,patentand
trademarkagents.1PatentAct,R.S.C.,1985,c.C-42,s.49.2CopyrightAct,R.S.C.1985,c.C-42,s.13(3).3https://www.robic.ca/en/publications/a-compilation-of-the-canadian-copyright-cases-decided-in-2014/;
https://www.robic.ca/en/publications/a-compilation-of-the-canadian-copyright-cases-decided-in-2012/;
https://www.canlii.org/fr/qc/qcca/doc/2014/2014qcca158/2014qcca158.html;4https://www.robic.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/068.120E-MBE-2010.pdf5ComstockCanadav.ElectecLtd.,(1991)45F.T.R.241(F.C.).6Giventhatownershipandemploymentisamatterofpropertyandcivilright,thisissuefallsunder
provincialjurisdiction.

2

ROBIC,LLPMONTREALQUEBECLAWYERS,PATENTAGENTSANDTRADEMARKAGENTS1001VictoriaSquare,BlocE–8thfloor2875LaurierBoulevard,Delta-3–Suite700Montreal(Quebec)CanadaH2Z2B7Quebec(Quebec)CanadaG1V2M2ROBIC.COMTel:514987-6242Tel:418653-1888INFO@ROBIC.COM

inevaluatingsuchanemploymentrelationshipmaynotbethesamewhenapplyingthe
CivilCodeofQuebec.Inanemploymentcontext,thebestpracticeistoincludeprovisions
inanemploymentcontractthatexplicitsetoutanemployee’sobligationtoassignthe
patentrightsinaninventiontotheemployer,inordertoavoidanyambiguity.
Thesituationbecomesevenmorecomplicatedwhenaninventionisinventedbyexternal
contractors.Unlikeanemployer-employeerelationship,thecontractorinacontractfor
servicesdoesnothavearelationshipofsubordinationtothepartythathiredthe
contractor.Instead,thecontractorisfreetochoosethemeansofperformingthecontract.7
Suchasituationmayarisewhenacompanyhiresaspecializedfirm,forexample,to
developanewproductorasoftwareplatform.
Furthermore,thecontractor’sprincipalobligationistocarryoutthephysicalorintellectual
work,whichoftenconsistsofdeliveringaworkproduct.However,thisdoesnot
automaticallymeanthatthecontractoralsohastheobligationtodeliver(i.e.assign)the
IPrightsintheworkproduct.Again,thebestpracticeistostateexplicitlyinacontractthat
thecontractorhasanobligationtoobtainandassignthenecessaryIPrights.
Moreover,itshouldbekeptinmindthattheactualwork,includingtheactofinventing,will
becarriedoutbyhumanactors,whomaybeemployeesofthecontractororother
subcontractors.Therefore,anypatentrightswouldoriginatewiththeseemployeesor
subcontractors.Thecontractorwouldhavetoacquiretherightsfromtheemployeesor
subcontractorsbeforebeingabletoassignthemtothepartythathiredthecontractor.For
suchsituations,thecontractshouldalsoobligethecontractortoundertaketoobtainthe
IPrightsinaninventioninadditiontotheobligationtoassignthem.
Furthermore,asapracticalmatter,transferringpatentrightsbetweendifferentparties
(ex:employeetoemployer,orcontractortohiringparty)requiresthatinventorsbe
physicallyavailabletoprovidesignatures.Thiswilloftennotbethecasebecause
inventorsmoveontoothercompaniesor,inrarecases,outrightrefusetosigntherequired
assignmentdocuments.Havingthepropercontractsinplacewiththevariousparties
(employees,contractorsandcontractors’employees)cansignificantlyreducethepainin
addressingsuchsituations.
7Art.2099C.C.Q.