Chihuahua, Chih., March 11th, 2019.

Dear Clients and Friends,

As a consequence of the development of new technologies, the Companies engage on research projects or in the improvement of its, thus, it is common that during said research project, the employees develop an improvement or an invention that must be protected o even patented; even though said upgrade or invention will be registered under the employee’s name as well, the rights belong to the employer, as the case may be.

When the employee is assigned to a research project for the improvement of the processes used by the Company, under instructions of the Company, the property of the invention and the exploitation rights belong to the employer. The employee will only be entitled to receive a complementary compensation, either through an agreement between the parties or by the Labor Boards, in this case it would only be applicable if the invention and its benefits are not proportional to the employee’s wage.

It is important to be aware that as an employer and business owner, regardless of the complaints submitted, the Federal Labor Law grants you a preferential right to the exclusive exploitation or to the acquisition of the corresponding patents.

Therefore, it is important to foresee these kinds of situations in your labor contract and to be up to date regarding Intellectual property matters, since your Company may already have the abovementioned inventions and be unaware of it.

If you have machinery in your Company that might be patented or modified by an employee, in some cases, as an employer you have the right to the exclusive use and exploitation of the patent of those adjustments, which is why it is important to protect your Company, machinery, and research processes.

Inintegrum Corporación Legal is a law firm specialized on Intellectual Property, that provides legal advice, management, consultations, and representation regarding related matters.

If you have any doubts or inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us.