Surfing Pool Patents Belong to Inventors, Not Former Employer

An employment agreement that required a former employee to assign patent rights for inventions he created after he left the company is invalid under California law, the Federal Circuit said.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California improperly enforced a contract between Whitewater West Industries and former employee Richard Alleshouse that restrained his post-employment patent rights, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a precedential opinion.

“The impairment of the individual’s ability to pursue his profession, trade, or business would be significant,” the court said.

The lower court’s decision is an outlier ...