Patent decision

BL number

O/501/14

Concerning rights in

GB2432310

Hearing Officer

Mr H Jones

Decision date

27 November 2014

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Daletech Electronics Limited v Jemella Limited

Provisions discussed

Sections 13, 37

Keywords

Entitlement, Inventorship

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The patent relates to an electric hair iron which overcomes the problem of condensation associated with operating an iron at low temperatures, the iron having a control circuit which prevents the supply of power to the heating elements when a temperature sensor detects that the temperature is below a minimum threshold. The claimant was commissioned by the respondent to carry out a variety of tasks relating to the design and testing of electronic circuits within the respondent’s hair irons, including work related to the technology of the patent. The claimant argued that all the development work leading to the invention was theirs alone and that there was no written agreement between the parties to assign any rights in the inventions to the respondent. They also claimed that one of the named inventors and a former employee of the respondent played no part in devising the invention.

The hearing officer found that the former employee had played a part in devising the invention and that both parties were entitled to the patent. However, although there was no written agreement in place between the parties concerning intellectual property rights in the work carried out by the claimant on behalf of the respondent, the general working arrangement of the two companies and their actions leading up to and subsequent to the filing of the patent application, was consistent with both sides assuming that the respondent alone would be entitled to the patent. The hearing officer dismissed the claim and awarded costs to the respondent.