Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Texas

Patent Infringement

I helped develope a software application at the last company I was at. My previous employer filed a patent on the software application. Neither myself our the other two people that developed the program and system signed any of our rights for the program over to the company. Can I develope similar software for the company I'm opening and not be in violation of patent infringement?


Asked on 6/25/09, 4:18 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Charles Williamson Charles J. Williamson, Attorney At Law

Re: Patent Infringement

How about challenging the patent the ex-employer has on the basis that the patent rights were not signed over to the employer? Transference of such rights, to be legal, must be done in writing. On the other hand, you could simply go ahead and develop the software and see if he challenges you on the basis of patent infringement. If he does, then you can simply show that he has no signed document which transfers the patent rights to him. Usually, however, when an employer has its employees develop something for them, they have the employees sign an agreement beforehand that says the patent rights, or intellectual property rights, belong to the employer. Hope this helps a little.

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Answered on 6/25/09, 4:28 pm


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