Houston, TX asked in Contracts, Civil Litigation, Employment Law and Intellectual Property for Texas

Q: Should I sue or should I walk away and let someone take advantage of me?

My x manager asked me to invent an equipment with him after work hour. I did all the work and the idea was mine. He quit his job so that he can patent it. Now he sold it for 16 million dollars. He wouldn't pay me a penny.

1 Lawyer Answer

A: $16,000,000 is a lot of money. Even 5% or 10% is a significant money to walk away from.

If you can prove what you say, then ex-manager may have a serious problem on his hands. A person cannot just patent someone else's invention. It is thus possible that the patent is invalid. I am surprised that your contribution was not turned up during the due diligence analysis by the buyer of the company.

You should talk to a patent litigation attorney.

Good luck!

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