Joint ventures or collaborative arrangements are often
considered to be an efficient way for people to work together to
achieve a common goal. However, working together without a proper
legal framework could result in a complex and quite expensive legal
dispute over ownership of any intellectual property that may have
been developed by parties working collaboratively.
The recent Federal Court decision of Neobev Pty Ltd v
Bacchus Distillery Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) (No 2)
[2014] FCA 4 considered the issue of joint inventorship and the
assignment of confidential information and copyright. In this case,
the Federal Court had to determine the identity of the inventor or
inventors of the invention. The invention involved a process for
producing a clean wine spirit used as a base in the production of
cream liqueur products (CWS invention).
