Number of labor lawsuits claiming intellectual property rights increases

Imagem de uma tela com desenho de um motor indicando a propriedade intelectual.

According to data collected from the Superior Labor Court, the number of labor lawsuits claiming employees' intellectual property rights has almost doubled since 2018. In that year, 161 lawsuits were filed. Since then, the average has remained around 300 cases per year.

The actions are based on Article 91 caput This article is based on the second paragraph of the Industrial Property Law - LPI - (9.279/96) which establishes that the ownership of the invention will be common and in equal parts when it results in the contribution of the employee and resources, means, materials and facilities of the employer, assuring the employee fair remuneration.

This ends up happening because companies, for the most part, use standard employment contracts, which do not provide for specific rules regarding the creation of products and intellectual property arising from the position held by the employee, as well as intellectual production occurring within the company, but outside the exercise of the functions for which the employee was hired, such as when the employee gives a technical solution to an existing problem and this resource is implemented in the company.

One of the ways to minimize the entry of this type of demand is to use the proviso provided for in the final part of article 91 of the LPI - the express contrary provision in the contract, that is, companies should review their employment contracts so that they provide for express rules to the effect that any and all intellectual creations of employees, whether or not in the course of their employment, will be the exclusive property of the company. It is also important to include a confidentiality and non-competition clause, preventing the employee from disclosing or producing the object of the creation during the course of the employment contract.

Source: Valor Econômico
Intellectual Property | CPDMA Team

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Number of labor lawsuits claiming intellectual property rights increases

According to data collected from the Superior Labor Court, the number of labor lawsuits claiming employees' intellectual property rights has almost doubled since 2018. In that year, 161 lawsuits were filed. Since then, the average has remained around 300 cases per year.

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