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Invention Assignment Agreement Attorney in Bingham Farms, MI
Questions about an invention assignment agreement? Attorney Scott Batey helps Bingham Farms employees understand these contracts before they sign.
Most people meet their invention assignment agreement on the first day of a new job, somewhere in a stack of onboarding paperwork they're told to sign by the end of the afternoon. It sits a few pages behind the direct deposit form and the benefits enrollment. Nobody walks the new hire through what it actually says, and honestly, most employers hope nobody asks.
That clause, often just a paragraph or two, can determine who owns an idea, an invention, or a piece of software an employee builds years down the road. It's easy to sign without a second thought when you're focused on making a good first impression. By the time it matters, whether because of a side project, a patent, or a dispute when leaving a job, the terms are already locked in.
Scott Batey reviews these agreements regularly for employees across Bingham Farms and Metro Detroit, and the same pattern shows up again and again. People sign first and ask questions later, usually because nobody ever explained what "assignment" meant in the first place.
What Is an Invention Assignment Agreement?
An invention assignment agreement is a contract clause where an employee agrees that certain inventions, ideas, or creative work made during their employment belong to the employer, not to them personally. In practice, this means the company, not the individual who did the work, holds the rights to patent it, sell it, or build a product around it.
Where It Typically Shows Up
These clauses rarely appear as their own standalone document, though sometimes they do. More often, they're tucked inside something else entirely.
- Offer letters, sometimes in a single paragraph near the end
- Employee handbooks, buried in a section on intellectual property
- Standalone IP or invention assignment agreements, signed separately at onboarding
- Non-disclosure agreements, where invention assignment language gets folded in alongside confidentiality terms
Why Companies Use Them
Employers have legitimate reasons for wanting this protection, and it's worth understanding their side of it. A company investing time and resources into research and development wants assurance that what its employees build stays with the business. Without this kind of agreement, ownership disputes over a valuable invention could end up in court, and that's expensive and slow for everyone involved. They're trying to protect the specific work product tied to what they're paying you to do.
What These Agreements Usually Cover
Work Created Using Company Time or Resources
If you invent something using your employer's equipment, on company time, or with access to proprietary information, that invention typically falls under the agreement. This is usually the most straightforward and least disputed category.
Work Related to the Company's Business
Many agreements extend further, covering inventions related to the employer's current business or anything the company is reasonably expected to pursue in the future. This broader language is where a lot of the confusion starts. An idea that feels personal to you might still fall inside this net if it overlaps with your employer's industry.
What Counts as "Invention"
The scope of these agreements is often wider than people expect. Depending on how the contract is written, it can include:
- Patentable inventions and processes
- Trade secrets and proprietary methods
- Product designs and prototypes
- Software code and technical documentation
- Other creative or technical work product tied to your role
Michigan Law and the Limits on These Agreements
The Statutory Carve-Out for Personal Time Inventions
Michigan law places real limits on how far an invention assignment agreement can reach. Under Michigan's employee invention statute, an agreement generally cannot require an employee to assign an invention that was developed entirely on their own time, without using the employer's equipment, supplies, facilities, or trade secret information, unless that invention relates to the employer's business or actual or anticipated research.
Why Overly Broad Language May Not Hold Up
Some agreements are written to claim ownership over anything an employee creates during their employment, full stop, regardless of when or how it was made. Under Michigan law, provisions that go beyond what the statute allows may not be enforceable as written, even if the employee signed them. That doesn't mean every broad clause automatically fails. It means the specific wording matters, and a court will look closely at what the contract actually says versus what state law permits.
The Required Written Notice Provision
Michigan law also requires employers using these agreements to provide written notice to the employee that the agreement does not apply to certain personal inventions protected by statute. Some employers skip this step or word it poorly, which can affect whether portions of the agreement are enforceable. This is a detail many employees, and frankly some employers, don't realize exists until a dispute forces a closer look at the contract.
Signs You May Need to Talk to an Attorney
Vague or Overly Broad Language
If an agreement you're being asked to sign, or one you already signed, uses sweeping language about "any and all inventions" without clear limits, that's worth a second set of eyes. Broad language isn't automatically illegal, but it's worth understanding what it actually means for you.
You've Built Something Outside of Work
If you've created something on your own time that you're worried your employer might try to claim, get clarity before it becomes an issue. This is especially true if your side project touches on the same industry as your job.
Your Employer Is Disputing Ownership
If your employer has already raised questions about who owns something you built, invented, or coded, that's a situation where legal guidance matters immediately. These disputes can move quickly once they start.
You're Leaving a Job and Unsure What You Can Take
Departing employees often aren't sure what ideas, code, or concepts they're allowed to bring with them to a new role or a business of their own. Getting this wrong can lead to a claim you didn't see coming.
How Scott Batey Helps Employees With These Agreements
Reviewing Agreements Before You Sign
The best time to understand an invention assignment agreement is before you sign it, not after a dispute forces the issue. Scott reviews these clauses for employees at the offer stage, flags language that reaches too far, and explains what it actually means in plain terms.
Explaining What's Enforceable Under Michigan Law
Not every aggressively worded clause is legally enforceable in Michigan. Scott walks clients through what state law actually permits an employer to claim, versus what's simply written into the contract to sound intimidating.
Representing Employees in Ownership Disputes
When an employer disputes ownership of something an employee built or invented, Scott represents that employee directly. This includes disputes that arise during employment and those that surface after someone has already left a job.
Employment Law, and Only Employment Law
Scott has focused exclusively on employment law since 1996. That kind of depth means he's seen how these agreements get drafted, where employers overreach, and what actually holds up when a disagreement lands in front of a judge.
Protecting What You Create
Ideas and inventions often carry more value than people realize at the moment they're created. A contract signed on a rushed first day, without much scrutiny, can quietly determine who owns something built years later. That's a strange amount of power for a clause most people never read closely.
Treating an invention assignment agreement with the same seriousness as a salary negotiation isn't overly cautious. It's simply recognizing that what you build, whether it's a product, a piece of code, or a genuinely good idea, might matter far more down the road than it does on day one. A few minutes of review now can prevent a much longer, costlier fight later.
Talk to Scott Before You Sign, Not After
Reviewing an invention assignment agreement before you sign costs you very little. Fighting over ownership after the fact costs considerably more, in time, stress, and sometimes in what you're allowed to keep. If you're staring at a new offer letter, wrapped up in a dispute, or simply unsure what you agreed to years ago, it's worth getting a clear answer now.
Scott Batey has spent his career focused entirely on Michigan employment law, and he's ready to look at your specific agreement and tell you what it actually means. Reach out for a free consultation before you sign anything else you haven't fully read.
Scott Batey, Batey Law Firm, PLLC
📍 30200 Telegraph Rd., Suite 400, Bingham Farms, MI 48025
This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Contact Batey Law for guidance specific to your situation.