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Patent myth
“Anything an employee invents automatically belongs to the company.”
Indian law does not transfer patent rights by implication as freely as people assume. Rights flow from inventors, and moving them needs something in writing.
An assignment of a patent or application must be in writing and recorded to be effective as evidence of title. Employment contracts often contain a promise to assign in future rather than a present assignment, and consultants, interns and pre-incorporation founders frequently have nothing at all.
Discovered in diligence, this delays closings, re-prices rounds and produces indemnities that sit on founders personally.
Sources & further reading
- The Patents Act, 1970 (consolidated to 1 August 2024) — Official IP India text
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Assignment
A transfer of ownership of a patent or an application from one person to another. In India it must be in writing, and it has to be recorded in the register to be eff…
Nobody wrote down who owns it
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What happens to IP when an employee leaves
Establish what they invented, confirm it has been assigned in writing, and run an exit process that captures the technical record before access is revoked.
Not sure whether this applies to your invention?
The honest answer usually needs someone to look at your actual disclosure, your timeline and the prior art. That is a conversation, not an article.
Educational guidance, not legal advice. This material is published by Ragulika IP for general education and information. It is not legal advice, it does not create a professional-client relationship, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Patentability, infringement, prosecution strategy and every other IP outcome turn on the specific facts and on the law and Patent Office practice as they stand at the time you act. Please take professional advice before making a decision, and read the underlying provision or judgment before relying on any point stated here.
Last reviewed by Ragulika IP on 2026-08-23. Indian patent law and Patent Office practice change; check the position before you rely on it.