Employee Inventions

Gilat, Bareket & Co. has gained extensive experience in the field of service inventions. Service inventions is a term used for an inventions which is invented by employees in connection with their employment. In recent years, there has been a rising interest in this field by employers and employees alike. Questions arise concerning both the ownership to the employees’ inventions (whether it belongs to the employer or employee) and whether the employee is entitled to an additional financial reward, beyond his or her invention in connection with inventions, the ownership of which is vested in the employee.

The attorneys at Gilat, Bareket & Co. handle a variety of cases in this field, such as a dispute between the State of Israel and a police bomb disposal expert over the ownership of a patent (which was brought before three court instances: the Patents Registrar, the District Court and the Supreme Court); a dispute between an employer and an employee on the identity of the service invention’s inventor (handled by the Patents Registrar and the District Court); a dispute on an employee’s claim for entitlement to compensation in respect to a service invention (handled by the Patents Registrar) and many others. Moreover, the attorneys at Gilat, Bareket & Co. handle the adjustment of transaction agreements to the dynamically-changing provisions of the law in this field, as well as inspecting employer employment practices as part of due diligence procedures. Finally, the firms’ attorneys are also involved in the legislative processes of suggested reforms to the field of service inventions.

In addition to its expertise and vast experience, the firm has a substantial advantage in this area, deriving from the synergy of working alongside the patent attorneys of Reinhold Cohn & Partners. This cooperation of closely working together on legal issues and technological aspects has brought mutual enrichment, as well as a superb level of customer service.