Rights Of Duty Inventions In Universities

Science and technology have been rapidly evolving since the information and technology reformation.As a result,the state has attached more importance on encouraging innovation.Recently appeals are frequently made to call for the ownership of duty invention to be allocated to the employees who undertake the task from their employers.However,with their special function for public interest,universities are remarkably different from enterprises,to which the economic theories based on "economic person" or "reasonable person" do not apply.Therefore,it is necessary to set up a reasonable system in order to clarify the rights of university inventions.The rights of university inventions consist of the right to apply for patent for the invention,the ownership of the patent,the right to get paid,as well as miscellaneous rights such as the right to know about the process of implementation of the patent and preemption rights.All of these are concerned with the interest of the inventor and the balance of interest between the inventors and the universities,thus exerting a great influence on the willingness as well as the motivation of the inventors and the progress of information and technological innovation.The article analyzes the source the rights and the social effect of Intellectual Property on the basis of labor rights based on the theories of Locke and the encouraging mechanism based on utilitarianism.Neither the university mode nor the invention mode offers a perfect way to solve practical problems.As the significant tool to regulate social relations,the law shall be made upon prudent deliberation of the the pros and cons of each mechanism to choose the one that is mostly suitable to the social aims with other means to provide for the deficiency of the system.In terms of the status quo,it is mostly rightful and effective to prescribe that the ownership belongs to the universities,whilst to protect the interests of the inventor by ensuring their monetary payment and other statutory rights.The article is divided in five parts.The first part is a brief introduction to duty invention and a comparison of the uniqueness of the duty inventions in universities with their counterparts in in the enterprises.The second to the fourth parts are the core content of the subject.In particular,the second part analyzes to whom the ownership of the patent shall belong;the third part discusses rights other than the patent ownership,such as the right to get monetary payment,right to know about the the process of implementation of the patent and preemption rights.The fourth part introduces the system of other countries like the US,Japan and Germany to provide a reference for the perfection of our system.The key lies in the allocation of the interest.The fifth part put forward suggestions and recommendations for improvements of our system.The article concludes that the ownership of the patent shall belong to the university whilst the interest of the inventors shall be adequately protected.