Employed research staff are normally paid for their work, with the expectation that inventions and creative work that they produce will belong to their employer. The organisation may offer incentivisation packages or operate a revenue-sharing policy. However, in many countries the law itself offers a mechanism to compensate inventive employees.
In the UK, the legal mechanism for employee compensation has been little used, and, until recently, only applied to very rare situations. Now the UK's Supreme Court has taken a surprise step in favour or employed inventors, with a ruling to reward an individual to the tune of £2 million for a striking advance in the field of biosensor technology.
James Fry discusses the decision and what it means for businesses here.