I am a researcher for a public company and regularly remunerated, I have realized an invention during the course of my researches. Can I have the patent on my name or can the company where I work claim some rights?

Up until 2001 and particularly at the enactment of Rule n. 383 of the 18th October 2001 introduced in the Art 24 b. of the Inventions Ruling in force then, the invention realized by a worker who was employed as a researcher, generally belonged to the firm employing and paying him a monthly salary. However, with the aim to stimulate research within our country and above all to avoid the quite sadly known “brains escape” to other countries, a new regulation has been introduced for the worker/public company relationship, confirmed also with the enforcement of the new Industrial Property Code. Particularly art. 65 (analogously to what provided by art 24 b. Invention Rulings) states that researchers are the owners of the exclusive rights deriving by the patentable invention of which they are the creators, whilst Universities or Public Administrations, as in this specific case, have only a right to a percentage on the proceeds or on the rentals of use of the same invention. The actual percentage must be decided by the University or public administration, in the absence of this, then the 30% of the proceeds or of the rentals is due to them. In any case, the inventor, who can directly file the patent application, and subsequently notifying the firm for which he is working, has a right of no less than 50% of these proceeds or rentals. The Art. n.65 part 5 of the Property Industrial Code directly provides for the only exception to this order of interests, this relates to cases where the research is financed totally or partially by private subjects, i.e. directly realized in the field of definite projects of research sponsored by public subjects different from the University or public bodies to which the researcher belongs to.