Supreme Court of Japan Orders Company To Share Profits from Patent with Ex-employee

Recently in Japan, the inventor of an optical device commonly used in CD and DVD players successfully sued his former employer, Olympus Optical Co. (Olympus), for compensation over royalties for his invention. The former Olympus employee alleged that he was not fairly compensated for the patent on his invention. The Supreme Court of Japan ("SCJ") held that regardless of a company's internal rules, an inventor is permitted to be rewarded for an invention. The SCJ's decision upheld a lower court decision and ordered Olympus to pay the inventor approximately 2.3 million Yen. The inventor was initially paid 210,000 Yen for the 1978 patent. This landmark ruling will have significant implications for the rights of inventors and companies having operations in Japan. For details, visit: http://makeashorterlink.com/?L25E63374 Summary by: Kiran Sah