CNIS (National Commission on Employee Inventions)

The National Commission for Employee Inventions, or CNIS, is the conciliation body competent for disputes between an employee and their employer relating to employee inventions: classification of the invention, additional remuneration and fair price. It is established by Article L. 615-21 of the Intellectual Property Code, which can be consulted on Légifrance, and sits at theINPI. The National Commission for Employee Inventions offers a fast and inexpensive route before any trial.

Composition and referral

First, the Commission is chaired by a judge of the judicial order and composed equally of employers’ and employees’ representatives, chosen for each case according to the sector concerned. Next, it may be seized by the employee or the employer, by application, at any time during a dispute relating to an employee invention. Finally, referral to the Commission suspends the limitation period for the action for payment and interrupts the procedural time limits before the court if it has been seized in parallel, the court being able to stay proceedings.

Procedure and conciliation proposal

The Commission examines the case adversarially, hears the parties, may appoint an expert and gather any information. Within six months of its referral, a period that may be extended, it issues a conciliation proposal. This proposal counts as an agreement between the parties if, within one month of its notification, neither of them has seized the competent judicial court. The agreement thus formed may be made enforceable by order of the president of the court. If a party seizes the court, the Commission’s proposal has no binding force but often informs the judge’s decision.

Key points

In practice, the National Commission for Employee Inventions makes it possible to settle most disputes without trial, in a confidential setting and with the support of technical and sector expertise. It is a useful step before seizing the Paris Judicial Court, which has exclusive jurisdiction over employee inventions. The firm represents employers and inventors before the Commission and before the court, as presented on the page employee inventions lawyer and in the article the consideration owed to the inventor.