If my husband made me a tool to make my job easier, does it belong to my employer?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If my husband made me a tool to make my job easier, does it belong to my employer?
I have carpel tunnel and my husband is a machinest. He made me a simple tool to help my job be less painful and now that I have left that employer they are threatening me with legal action if I don’t return the tool my husband made.
Asked on April 6, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If YOU had made the tool, it would almost certainly belong to your employer. But assuming your husband neither worked for them nor was commissioned by them to create this tool, the employer would seem to have no right to it.
You should speak with an intellectual property attorney immediately. Not only can that attorney confirm, based on a thorough, detailed review of all the facts, whether there is any potential liability at all to the employer, but more importantly, your husband may have made something of real value--that is probably why the employer wants it. There are many people with carpal tunnel; if your husband's invention is easy to produce and helps any appreciable percentage of carpal tunnel sufferers, you may have something that you should protect by patent and then either create and sell yourself or license to someone else to manufacture. Good luck.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.