Employee invention

An employee invention is an invention made by an employee in the course of, or in connection with, the employment contract. The French Intellectual Property Code governs its allocation and its consideration in Article L. 611-7, which distinguishes three categories according to the link between the invention and the duties of the employee.

The three categories of employee inventions

The mission invention is made in the performance of an inventive mission or of studies and research explicitly entrusted to the employee. It belongs to the employer from the outset. The employee is entitled to additional remuneration, on terms set by the collective bargaining agreement, a company agreement or the employment contract.

The attributable non-mission invention is made outside any mission, but either in the course of the duties, or in the field of the activities of the company, or thanks to the knowledge, techniques or means of the company. It belongs to the employee, but the employer may have the ownership or the enjoyment of the patent attributed to it, in return for a fair price.

The non-attributable non-mission invention has none of these links with the company. It belongs to the employee without restriction.

Disclosure, classification and time limits

An employee who makes an invention must disclose it to the employer, proposing a classification. The employer then has a period to challenge the classification and, for an attributable non-mission invention, to exercise its right of attribution. The employer’s silence within the regulatory periods has consequences on the ownership of the invention. These procedural rules, often neglected, decide a significant share of the disputes.

Additional remuneration and fair price

The additional remuneration for a mission invention is not an optional incentive. It is due as soon as the invention is patentable, whether or not a patent is filed. Its amount takes into account the economic interest of the invention for the company and the personal contribution of the employee. The fair price of the attributable non-mission invention is assessed at the date of attribution.

Failing agreement, the dispute is brought before the National Commission on Employee Inventions, known as the CNIS, whose opinion is deemed an agreement between the parties if not challenged, or before the Paris Judicial Court. The firm acts in these matters for employers and inventors alike. See our page employee inventions attorney and the text of Article L. 611-7 on Légifrance.

See also: invention disclosure, additional remuneration, fair price, CNIS and our page employee inventions attorney.

To go further: our presentation of employee inventions.