COURSE DESCRIPTION
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Employers often hire employees to develop new systems and processes, create new technology or products, and develop new markets. These employers, of course, think they own the intellectual property – know-how, trade secrets, processes, brands, customer lists, and much more – that their employees created. But it’s not always so, even if the property was created in the scope of the employees’ duties. Not infrequently, employees will assert claims to the property, potentially causing the employer to lose control of the property or sustain substantial costs recovering the property. But these are risks that can be substantially eliminated with proper planning. This program will provide you with a practical guide to preserving and protecting your client’s know-how, confidential information, and trade secrets from employees’ claims that they created and own the property.
- Ownership of ideas, information, know-how and other property created on the job by employees
- Impact of scope of an employee’s duties on ownership of property created on the job
- Role of adequate compensation in protecting employer property
- How some property created on the job is an employee’s – not the employer’s – even if in scope of duties
- Essential agreements, policies, and practices to preserve employer property
- What to do if asserts ownership to property created on the job
Speaker: Peter J. Kinsella is a partner in the Denver office of Perkins Coie, LLP, where he has an extensive technology law practice focusing on advising start-up, emerging and large companies on technology-related commercial and intellectual property transaction matters. Prior to joining his firm, he worked for ten years in various legal capacities with Qwest Communications International, Inc. and Honeywell, Inc. Mr. Kinsella has extensive experience structuring and negotiating data sharing agreements, complex procurement agreements, product distribution agreements, OEM agreements, marketing and advertising agreements, corporate sponsorship agreements, and various types of patent, trademark and copyright licenses. Mr. Kinsella received his B.S. from North Dakota State University and his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.