Medical Inventions: Developments and Approaches in Employer-Employee Relationships
Written by Ph.D. Howard Zvi Teff, Patent Attorney at Gold Patents Ltd.
Published at Harefuah – Journal of the Israeli Medical Association, 151/11, November 2012
The past twenty years have witnessed a huge increase in research activity on the government health system in Israel. Consequently a number of questions of enhanced importance arise:
- to whom the resultant IP (Intellectual Property) belongs? to the researcher or to the employer?
- what compensation should the researcher receive for his inventive efforts
The government found many cases where the IP was registered in the name of the inventor/researcher, thus denying the government ownership of the IP. In 2009, the government sued Omryx over ownership of such IP.
Following these developments, the government issued new rules for managing of IP in the government health system. They came into effect in November 2010.
In many respects, the new rules are more stringent than the Israeli Patent Law in respect to the inventor. However, the stipulation of awards to the inventor in the new rules is generous.
In order for the new rules to be enforceable, the following guidelines are recommended:
- The new rules should be more aligned with the Patent Law and with the meaning given to the Law by the judicial system, and
- There is need for the assent and awareness of health system employees to the conditions set out in the new rules, preferably in the form of new work contracts that clearly and concurrently delineate the worker’s duties, particularly those pertaining to IP.
See the full article here Medical Inventions (in Hebrew).