직무발명 이중양도 관련 발명진흥법 개정방안

Employee Invention system is for employers to receive benefits from active investments and for employees to enjoy incentives from valuable inventions made by themselves. The Invention Promotion Act gives an employee who has created an invention in the course of performing his or her professional duties the right for a patent for the invention, and after due assignment of the right to the employer, the right to receive reasonable compensation. Nevertheless, there is a loophole in the existing law if an employee willingly gives his or her right for a patent to a third party. In this case, if the third party is a bona fide purchaser for value, employer may not be able to recover the right. This paper firstly points out a problem in the succession of rights for a patent concerning employee’s invention, secondly reviews relevant jurisprudence of the U.S., Japan, and Korea, and finally suggests several measures to enhance efficiency of the system. Most importantly, the Invention Promotion Act must be amended to protect interest of the employer, under the relevant contract, to succeed right for a patent at the very time when the employee invention is created or, at the latest, when the employee reports the invention to the employer.