Whether the IT firms allow their employees to individually patent their software?

hello, I am having a query ,i want to know whether the IT firms allow their employees to individually patent their software which they brought out or will the software be patented under the company name.....please make sure if the software is completely the individuals work and no one in the company was involved... if so which are the companies doing it and where can i find the details

Well, our company does not allow it...
But logically thinking, if the work done was without using company resources i.e. company time [office hours], company equipment [office computers], company software [softwares purchased by company] and can really be termed as individual effort.... I think the company should allow to patent the same individually..
Which most of the time does not happen as most of the employees use company resources to develop something... So the company does have right over the developed work.
This is my personal opinion and may differ from others...
Ajmal Mirza
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I would agree with what Ajmal has to say. However, I would also like to add for the benefit of the software developer. If you have an idea, you may not get a patent for yourself, but you could get a share of sweat equity for implementing the idea. So if the product does well in the market, you too share the success with your company.
Further, I am not sure whether one can get a patent for a software alone in India. I believe it needs to be a firmware to get a patent, rather than a simple IT software application. Correct me if I am wrong...
Cheers,
- Nitin

ok if that is the case ,what about companies like IBM is such big organizations doing such work.
and i would also ask u experinced hr manager to suggest me a latest topic that i can take up as a two monts project in a very large IT organization,which topics will be good for such a project if the organition is very large plse guide me through this.
thankyou

:D Hi.
In my opinion Nitinn is correct .. and I agree with Ajmal.
However I worked on a small project as a part of internship, and the Organization allowed me to protect my brainchild through Intellectual Property Rights .. though it was Iron & Steel Co. with own Automation R&D division ..
In my opinion .. its really difficult to develop a software and patent a technology on one's own. Organization provide the knowledge base, Innovative problems and challenges (if we even do not take into account the Resources and time), without which the Development would be dificult, if not impossible in industrial setups .. In certain cases I think it also depends on Company's policies ..
:D Just my view friends ...
Regards,
thesysthink

hey..right guys....but as i came to know during my internship in wipro it basically depends on company to company and in big companies they give a chance to employee first for the patent. but as ssomeone mentioned its always hard for an individual to design these alone its always the contribution & infrastructure of comp. that plays great role........
just my view......
:P vrinda