San Diego, CA asked in Intellectual Property for California

Q: My patent was stolen by another employee. What legal actions can I take against him?

My patent was stolen by another employee who contributed nothing to its conception. I did not even know him when I conceived my idea. He inserted his name onto the application without my knowledge. I have paper trails of my invention including (1) the official company announcement acknowledging by him and his boss that I came up with the idea; and (2) witnesses acknowledging that I am the original inventor. I brought this issue up to my boss but nothing was done to resolve it. So now I would like to do something outside of the company to settle this issue. Your advice on how to resolve this is very much appreciated. Have a blessed day!

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2 Lawyer Answers

A: The answer hasn't changed since the last time you asked this. You still need to know if you had an employee patent agreement. Witnesses can attest that you worked on the product. It is highly unlikely that witnesses know what the invention is. The invention is what the attorney wrote in the claims at the end of the specification.

You could sue, but it would be necessary to see what you could sue for, what you might recover, and what it would cost you to maintain the suit.

If this is important to you, you should consult an attorney. The situation appears to require detailed legal analysis going beyond the scope of "Ask a Lawyer."

1 user found this answer helpful

A: contact an attorney and see if you can file with the patent office something.

the filing needs to be truthful so adding somebody who did nothing is a violation of practices.

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