Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Florida

I was included in a patent, but no longer work for that Company.

I was working for a Fortune 500 Company for +10 years and in late September of 1999, I was terminated. I was one of the inventors in a patent recently filed by this Company. This system (invention) will revolutionize the way that the Airfreight Industry handles freight. My questions are:

a) Now that I no longer belong to this organization, do I have any royalty rights from this patent?

b) If I wanted to sell my part of the patent, how can I do that?

c) I did not sign any waivers of ownership on the patent, I am listed as an inventor along with about 8 others. What monitary rights do I have to my part of the idea, which is a large part of the concept and usage thereof?

Can you please help.


Asked on 10/19/99, 11:28 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lawrence Graves Coolidge & Graves PLLC

Re: I was included in a patent, but no longer work for that Company.

If you did your part of the inventing as an employee of the Company, then you have no ownership rights. To answer your questions: (a) Leaving the organization does not change this. (b) You have nothing to sell. (c) Waivers of ownership are only important if you were not an employee -- i.e., if you had been an independent contractor.

Wish I could help, but there seems to be nothing to do about this situation. Glad to suggest counsel at my old firm in Florida if you want to talk to a trial lawyer about what claims you could or could not bring.

Best wishes,

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Answered on 10/21/99, 6:31 pm


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