Photo by Thomson Reuters Website
During this week’s internship, there were not too many revisions or new projects. My partners and I have been revising the logo draft and continuing to present new concepts. The director pulls us into a video conference, and everyone makes suggestions for each concept and changes that need to be made. We did this repeatedly for two weeks to get better design ideas and ideas.
I also gave a lot of advice and ideas about the key words of inclusion, diversity and equity given by clients of educational institutions as requirements. Here I learned about the types and regulations of invention ownership, confidentiality agreements and best efforts. In the article “Employment Contracts and Compensation Agreements”, several points are made about the types of employment contracts and pay agreements that can be found in the ownership of inventions.
Anything created under the ownership of inventions is an invention of the employer, not the employee. In addition, employees typically agree to transfer their inventions to the employer, collaborate to obtain patents for the invention, and keep the invention information confidential like any other trade secret.
The employee then undertakes not to share any information about the employer’s business or the employer’s secret processes, plans, formulas, data, or machines. Often, confidentiality agreements remain in effect even after the employee no longer works for the employer. The last is best effort, in which the employee promises to do his best work and be loyal to the employer.
Sometimes it is also stipulated that the employee expressly agrees to make suggestions and recommendations to the employer that benefit the company. These three points are relevant to the design industry, because most brands and product sales must sign non-disclosure agreements in order to obtain the expected value of the product at the time of launch and collect profits, if the information is leaked in advance, others will steal or use the information to create media and topics to make profits.
Then, the ownership of invention is to prevent employees from using the same invention repeatedly to earn profits in other companies. If they do not sign the terms, such privilege will no longer be owned by the company, but become free and public for the group, resulting in reduced profits for the company. Doing your best work is a great way for employees to get a raise or promotion in the future, and it also gives you results when it comes to bringing benefits and advice to the company.
Also, when signing the contract, you must carefully check the content of the contract to prevent the employer or the company from obtaining your rights and interests, which will lead to unfair employment forms. In the article: “WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE FORCED TO SIGN AN EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT” it mentions that by signing the contract, you read, understand, and agree to the terms of the contract, unless you can prove fraud or other limited exceptions. Thus, an employment contract, even one that limits or deprives employees of their rights, may be legal. That is why it is crucial to read and understand any document before signing it. You also have the right to have a lawyer review the contract for you.
References:
https://www.wmalabamalaw.com/blog/2014/april/what-to-do-if-you-are-forced-to-sign-an-employme/
https://www.scribd.com/document/91894008/Non-Disclosure-Agreement
