The right to apply for a patent for an invention-creation developed through cooperation belongs to:
An invention-creation developed through cooperation means that two or more units or individuals cooperate with each other,** *Inventions and creations resulting from joint research and development.
According to the relevant provisions of the Patent Law, for inventions and creations completed through cooperation, the ownership of the right to apply for a patent is divided into two aspects:
1. If the parties have an agreement, the agreement shall prevail; That is to say, if the parties have made a prior agreement on the right to apply for a patent, the agreement will be implemented in accordance with the agreement. After the application is approved, the agreed applicant unit or individual will be the patentee.
2. If the parties have not agreed, the right to apply for a patent belongs to the unit or individual who completed or jointly completed the application. After the application is approved, the applicant unit or individual becomes the patentee.
To sum up, for inventions and creations completed through cooperative development, the parties can agree on the ownership of their rights to apply for patents in the cooperative development contract. If there is no agreement, the rights to apply for patents will be enjoyed by the party who completed the joint development.
In addition, according to the provisions of Article 340 of the Contract Law, if one party to a joint development transfers its exclusive right to apply for a patent, the other parties shall have the priority to receive the transfer under the same conditions. ; If one party to a joint development declares to waive its exclusive right to apply for a patent, the other party may apply alone or all other parties may apply jointly; if the applicant obtains the patent right, it shall waive the right to apply for a patent. One party can implement the patent free of charge; if one party involved in the joint development does not agree to apply for a patent, the other party shall not submit a patent application.