Guangzhou IP Court Rules 7 Patents Filed by Ex-Employees Belong to Former Employer
Guangzhou IP Court confirmed that 7 utility model patents filed by former core employees belong to Company A as service inventions based on business relevance and the one-year post-resignation rule.
WISECODE Take
Business owners often mistakenly assume that if an employee files a patent after resigning or under a new company's name, the former employer cannot claim ownership. The Guangzhou IP Court ruled in 2026 that all 7 utility model patents for laser printer motors filed by former core employees during and within one year of their resignation belong to their original employer, Company A. This highlights strict judicial scrutiny over technical relevance for post-resignation patents. Companies hiring senior R&D staff should evaluate their former employers' scope of business to avoid title disputes. Zhidian offers trade secret and ownership defense services to help businesses evaluate technical overlaps during recruitment. Companies should avoid filing patents heavily overlapping with a former employer's business within one year of hiring key personnel, and maintain thorough R&D logs to prove independent creation.
Original sources
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