Can IT Employees Patent Their Own Software? Seeking Firms That Allow It and More Details

Hello, I am having a query. I want to know whether IT firms allow their employees to individually patent their software that they have developed, or if the software will be patented under the company's name. Please confirm if the software is entirely the individual's work, with no involvement from anyone else in the company. If so, which companies allow this practice, and where can I find more 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 [software purchased by the company], and can really be termed as individual effort... I think the company should allow patenting the same individually.

Most of the time, this does not happen as most employees use company resources to develop something. Therefore, the company does have the right over the developed work.

This is my personal opinion and may differ from others.

Ajmal Mirza
mirza_ajmal@yahoo.com

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 software alone in India. I believe it needs to be firmware to get a patent, rather than a simple IT software application. Correct me if I am wrong...

Cheers,
- Nitin

Okay, if that is the case, what about companies like IBM? Is such big organizations doing such work? I would also ask an experienced HR manager to suggest a latest topic that I can take up as a two-month project in a very large IT organization. Which topics will be good for such a project if the organization is very large? Please guide me through this. Thank you.

Hi,

In my opinion, Nitinn is correct, and I agree with Ajmal. However, I worked on a small project as part of an internship, and the organization allowed me to protect my brainchild through Intellectual Property Rights, even though it was an Iron & Steel Co. with its own Automation R&D division.

In my opinion, it's really difficult to develop software and patent a technology on one's own. Organizations provide the knowledge base, innovative problems, and challenges (even if we do not take into account the resources and time) without which the development would be difficult, if not impossible in industrial setups. In certain cases, I think it also depends on the company's policies.

Just my view, friends...

Regards,
thesysthink

Hey, right guys. But, as I came to know during my internship at Wipro, it basically depends on the company to company. In big companies, they give a chance to the employee first for the patent. But, as someone mentioned, it's always hard for an individual to design these alone. It's always the contribution and infrastructure of the company that plays a great role.

Just my view. 😛
Vrinda