We will help you resolve matters related to the regulation of relations between the employer and the author of a service-related result of intellectual activity (employee).
When allocating rights to protectable service-related results of intellectual activity, the following key points must be taken into account:
1. Exclusive rights to protectable results of intellectual activity cannot arise for a legal entity without following a specific procedure for the creation, allocation, and formalization of rights in favor of the legal entity.
2. The employer is obliged to pay the author remuneration. In the case of the use of a service-related result of intellectual activity created by the author, this obligation is of a civil (not labor) legal nature and continues even after termination of employment, unless otherwise specified by contract with the author.
3. For some categories of intellectual property objects, there are minimum rates of author remuneration established by law, which the author may rely upon in seeking payment.
In practice, there are numerous risks for employers. Most of these stem from the mistaken belief that the employment contract is the only necessary document regulating relations between the employer and the author. Additional risks arise from a lack of understanding of the specific legal features of managing such relationships.
The main risks faced by any employer include:
– The employer failed to secure intellectual property rights by properly regulating the relationship with the author. There is a risk that a dishonest author could later disclose or transfer the result of the work to a competitor;
– The author may demand remuneration based on statutory rates, which could have been significantly reduced by entering into a proper agreement on author remuneration. Special attention should be given to the Russian Government Resolution No. 512 of June 4, 2014, which defines minimum remuneration rates for service inventions, utility models, and industrial designs.
Practice shows that the legal regulation of service inventions differs in important ways from the regulation of service software products (software and databases) developed by programmers and developers. These differences may include the structure of work processes, internal approval procedures, the use of internal electronic systems, and more.
Our role is to provide legal assistance and expert support for the regulation of relations between employer and author—whether in large industrial organizations, scientific and technical institutions, corporate holdings, or modern IT companies.
NEVA-PATENT offers the following services for regulating employer–author relations:
|
Service / Work Stage |
Service Fee |
| Legal audit of documentation |
from 10,000 RUB (the cost depends on the volume of documents. The result is a legal opinion regarding the allocation of intellectual rights) |
| Development of a corporate standard (policy) for managing service-related intellectual activity results created by employees (regulating employer–author relations) |
from 95,000 RUB (the cost depends on the scope of work) |
| Development of a corporate standard (policy) for the payment of author remuneration |
from 55,000 RUB (the cost depends on the scope of work) |
| Drafting of an author remuneration agreement |
from 15,000 RUB |
| Drafting of a supplementary agreement to the employment contract on the allocation of intellectual property rights in favor of the employer |
from 15,000 RUB |
| Consultation with a specialist |
from 2,000 RUB per hour (on-site – from 3,000 RUB per hour) |
Our experience and professional expertise are at your service.
We always welcome cooperation!