Inventor Assignments – Problems on the Horizon | Womble Bond Dickinson

Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in
Minerva Surgical Inc. v. Hologic, Inc. over the rather arcane issue of assignor estoppel.  Stop - I can figuratively feel your eyes rolling after reading the phase “assignor estoppel” – “why would I care about that!?”  Well, the potential validity of patents developed by your employees that are assigned to (
i.e., owned by) your company are at significant risk based on the potential outcomes of this case.
Assignor estoppel has differences in both philosophy and patent policy from licensee estoppel, which was abolished by the Supreme Court in
Lear, Inc. v. Adkins, in 1969.  In

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