Intellectual property rights have become increasingly valuable assets for many companies and often are critical to a company’s competitive capability. Therefore, it has become crucial for companies to secure ownership in IP assets created by employees in the course of their employment. In spite of this, many companies have overlooked this issue and failed to ensure that necessary agreements are put in place and that employees are properly informed of their rights and obligations with respect to IP assets created while working at the company and after termination of their employment. This is often due to the fact that the management is rarely specialized in IP and is simply unaware that certain steps need to be taken to safeguard the company’s rights in IP created by employees. Consequences ensuing from such an oversight, however, could be catastrophic for the business.
