Question

How is Transfer of intellectual property work product addressed in an organization? Do you have any suggestions for improvements?

Answer 1

All forms of intellectual property - copyrights,trademarks,trade secrets and patents - can be transferred in two ways: the property can be temporarily transferred under a license or the property can be permanently transferred by way of an assignment.

Licensing : The key to licensing is the principle of reversion which refers to the fact that you will get the rights back once the license terminates. Typically the reversion occurs upon one of several factors

• The agreement expires because pf a fixed time period.
• The company that licensed the work or invention stops selling the property.
• The license failed to commercialize your work.
• The license breached the agreement..

Separate rights under intellectual property can be licensed separately. A license cannot extend beyond the life of the intellectual property.

Assignments : Assignments are a permanent transfer of the rights. In other words,you are selling the rights to someone else and you will not be getting them back. Assignments are typically made under employment or contractor agreements, when companies acquire the assets of other companies , or when intellectual property is used a security such as when a movie studio secures loan by assigning movie rights in return for a loan.

Priorities for improving the quality of the intellectual property system

• Enhanced patent quality initiative
• Two-day patent quality summit
• Deputy commissioner for patent quality
• Reduce pendency and backlog
• Patent law harmonization