Three Words That Can Determine Patent Ownership

By Cathy Yarbrough, contributing editor

Three words — “and hereby assigns” — could determine whether a patent is owned by the company at which the invention occurred or by the employee or consultant responsible for the invention, T said Philip Strassburger, VP of intellectual property counsel at Purdue Pharma. In a presentation at the Drug Delivery Partnerships conference, Strassburger noted that these words too often are missing from the agreements that life sciences companies require staff and consultants tosign as a condition of employment.