Singapore legislation
Section 49
Section 49
Right to employees’ inventions
(1)
Despite anything in any rule of law, an invention made by an employee, as between the employee and the employee’s employer, is taken to belong to the employee’s employer for the purposes of this Act and all other purposes if —
the invention was made in the course of the normal duties of the employee or in the course of duties falling outside the employee’s normal duties, but specifically assigned to the employee, and the circumstances in either case were such that an invention might reasonably be expected to result from the carrying out of the employee’s duties; or
the invention was made in the course of the duties of the employee and, at the time of making the invention, because of the nature of the employee’s duties and the particular responsibilities arising from the nature of the employee’s duties the employee had a special obligation to further the interests of the employer’s undertaking.
(2)
Any other invention made by an employee, as between the employee and his or her employer, is taken for those purposes to belong to the employee.
(3)
Where by virtue of this section an invention belongs, as between the employee and his or her employer, to an employee, nothing done —
by or on behalf of the employee or any person claiming under the employee for the purposes of pursuing an application for a patent; or
by any person for the purpose of performing or working the invention,is to be taken to infringe any copyright or design right to which, as between the employee and his or her employer, his or her employer is entitled in any model or document relating to the invention.
(4)
In subsection (3), the reference to application for a patent includes an application for other protection for an invention, and includes an application for a patent or any other protection under the law of a country other than Singapore or under any treaty to which Singapore is a party.