Prosyscor Ltd v Netsweeper Inc & Ors [2019] EWHC 1302 (IPEC) (22 May 2019)

Prosyscor Ltd v Netsweeper Inc & Ors [2019] EWHC 1302 (IPEC) (22 May 2019)

Mr Kite's inventive contributions, including the claim 1 inventive concept, were made in the course of his normal duties as an employee of Netsweeper, as evidenced by his employment contract, job description, and use of the company intranet for disclosure. Therefore, ownership of the PCT Application and derived...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
[2019] EWHC 1302 (IPEC)
Parties
Claimant: Prosyscor Limited; Defendant: Netsweeper Inc.; Defendant: Netsweeper (Barbados) Inc.; Defendant: Jeremy Erb
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
22 May 2019
Procedural Posture
Patent Entitlement and Breach of Confidence Claim / High Court (ipec) Trial Judgment
Outcome
Claim dismissed; declaration of entitlement in favour of Netsweeper; no breach of confidence found.
Legal Topics
Patent Entitlement, Inventorship, Employee Inventions, Breach of Confidence
Intellectual Property Law Employment Law Patent Entitlement Inventorship Employee Inventions Breach of Confidence

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Parties

Prosyscor Limited

Claimant

Netsweeper Inc.

Defendant

Netsweeper (Barbados) Inc.

Defendant

Jeremy Erb

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Patent Entitlement and Breach of Confidence Claim / High Court (ipec) Trial Judgment

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Who devised the inventive concepts in the PCT Application?
  2. 2 Whether Mr Kite's inventive contributions were made in the course of his normal duties as an employee under s.39 Patents Act 1977?
  3. 3 Whether the Ancillary Agreement assigned post-employment inventions?

Ratio Decidendi

Mr Kite's inventive contributions, including the claim 1 inventive concept, were made in the course of his normal duties as an employee of Netsweeper, as evidenced by his employment contract, job description, and use of the company intranet for disclosure. Therefore, ownership of the PCT Application and derived patents vests in Netsweeper. There was no actionable breach of confidence by Netsweeper, as no confidential information beyond what was already disclosed during employment was identified or misused.

Court Disposition

Claim dismissed; declaration of entitlement in favour of Netsweeper; no breach of confidence found.

Orders

  • Netsweeper is entitled to ownership of the PCT Application and all applications derived from it.
  • No relief for breach of confidence.