Connecticut General Statutes 22-82a – Inventions and discoveries by employees
(a) As used in subsections (b) to (h), inclusive, of this section: (1) “Station” means the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station; (2) “director” means the director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station; and (3) “board” means the board of control of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 22-82a
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. Source: FDIC
(b) The station shall be entitled to own the entire right, title and interest in any invention or discovery of an employee of the station that (1) is conceived in the course of the performance of customary or assigned duties of the employee, (2) emerges from any research, development or other program of the station, or (3) is conceived or developed wholly or partly at the expense of the station or with the aid of the equipment, facilities or personnel of the station.
(c) In each such instance, the employee shall be deemed to be obligated, by reason of his or her employment by the station, to (1) disclose his or her invention or discovery fully and promptly to the director, (2) assign to the station the entire right, title and interest in each invention or discovery, and execute instruments of assignment to that effect, and (3) execute such proper patent or license application or other instrument of assignment concerning such invention or discovery as may be requested by the director, and give all reasonable aid in the prosecution of such application or assignment and the procurement of such patent, license or assignment.
(d) Except where the invention or discovery is subject to federal grant restrictions, the entire beneficial ownership of any such invention or discovery, including all monetary proceeds, property and rights of every character, tangible and intangible, shall be deposited with the station and vest in the station for use in scientific inquiries and experiments and the board shall exercise complete control thereof.
(e) Each employee who conceives or makes any invention or discovery and fulfills his or her obligations to the satisfaction of the station as provided in subsections (b) to (d), inclusive, of this section shall be entitled to share in any net proceeds that may be derived from the assignment, grant, license or other disposal of such invention or discovery. The amount of such net proceeds shall be computed by, or with the approval of, the board, with reasonable promptness after collection thereof, and after deducting from gross proceeds any and all costs and expenses as may be reasonably allocated to the particular invention or discovery including, but not limited to, costs or expenses associated with seeking and obtaining any patent, trademark or licensing agreement, maintenance or litigation costs, and the costs of evaluating the commercial potential of the invention or discovery. A minimum of twenty per cent of the amount of such net proceeds shall be paid to an employee who solely conceived or made the invention or discovery, and shall be paid in shares to two or more employees who jointly conceived or made the invention or discovery in such respective proportions as the board may determine. The board in its discretion may increase the amount by which any employee or employees may participate in such net proceeds.
(f) Disagreements as to the allocation of any invention or discovery, as to the obligations of any employee, or due performance thereof, or as to the participation of any employee of the station in any net proceeds, shall be disposed of as follows: (1) By voluntary arbitration of all relevant issues, if the disagreeing parties approve and agree to be bound by the decision upon such arbitration; (2) by compulsory arbitration if that is provided for in any applicable contract between the disagreeing parties; or (3) by recourse to a court of competent jurisdiction in this state if arbitration cannot be resorted to under either subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection.
(g) The board may establish and regulate, equitably in the public interest, such measures as the board deems necessary for the purposes of such arbitration, and to make contracts for compulsory arbitration, in the name of the station.
(h) The board may adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 to govern the operations of the station in accordance with the provisions of subsections (a) to (g), inclusive, of this section.