Federal Circuit Finds No Assignment By Employment Agreement

In Omni MedSci, Inc. v. Apple Inc., the Federal Circuit held that language the inventor agreed to via his employment agreement "did not effectuate a present automatic assignment of [his] patent rights." The issue arose in the context of a motion to dismiss a patent infringement suit for failing to be brought by the patent owner. After finding the inventor had not automatically assigned his rights to the unnamed party, the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of the motion to dismiss. 

The Ownership Events At Issue

A brief timeline of events relating to ownership of the patents at issue is summarized below:

• When Dr. Islam joined the University of Michigan (UM) faculty as a professor of electrical and computer engineering, he executed an employment agreement that included a provision agreeing to abide by UM's bylaws.