Q: What does California's "ARTICLE 3.5. Inventions Made by an Employee" protect?
I understand that California's law protects employees inventions done on their own time, using their own equipment if unrelated to the employer's business. I'm not clear what constitutes an "invention." Do works of authorship and other copyrightable material count as an invention? Trademarks? Brand Names? Sales copy?
What about a novel or play?
If I were to create a side-business, and trademark a logo, would that be protected by California's law? Could the employer claim a trademark is not an invention, hence they own it?
My assignment agreement says they get the following: "…all my right, title, and interest in and to any and all inventions, original works of authorship, developments, concepts, improvements, designs, discoveries, ideas, trademarks or trade secrets, whether or not patentable or registrable under copyright or similar laws, which I may solely or jointly conceive or develop or reduce to practice, or cause to be conceived or developed or reduced to practice...
A:
Well, you are going to have to talk to a California employment attorney to get the best answer. I am not a California attorney, nor an employment attorney, but here are a few points.
(1) You are correct that the trademarks, logos, brand names, sales copies, and like, are likely not considered "inventions". However, the California Law does not limit inventions only to _patentable_ inventions, so I would expect California to interpret the word "invention" a bit more broadly than the US Patent Office.
(2) Although trademarks, copyrights, and like are likely not covered by the recited statute, they may be covered by other statutes.
(3) Many employment agreements try to claim as much of the IP from the employee as possible, while not being too broad which would make them unenforceable.
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.
