Bill Text: IA SF312 | 2021-2022 | 89th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to employment agreements assigning rights to inventions by employees and including applicability provisions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-02-11 - Subcommittee: Schultz, Dickey, and T. Taylor. S.J. 332. [SF312 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2021-SF312-Introduced.html
Senate
File
312
-
Introduced
SENATE
FILE
312
BY
KINNEY
A
BILL
FOR
An
Act
relating
to
employment
agreements
assigning
rights
1
to
inventions
by
employees
and
including
applicability
2
provisions.
3
BE
IT
ENACTED
BY
THE
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IOWA:
4
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Section
1.
NEW
SECTION
.
94.1
Definitions.
1
For
purposes
of
this
chapter,
unless
the
context
otherwise
2
requires:
3
1.
“Employee”
means
a
natural
person
who
is
employed
in
this
4
state
for
wages
by
an
employer.
5
2.
“Employer”
means
a
person,
as
defined
in
chapter
4,
who
6
in
this
state
employs
for
wages
a
natural
person.
7
3.
“Invention”
means
an
original
concept
which
may
be
8
rendered
into
an
artistic,
educational,
or
technological
9
expression,
including
works,
compositions,
designs,
machines,
10
manufacturing
or
engineering
techniques,
analyses,
or
11
processes.
12
Sec.
2.
NEW
SECTION
.
94.2
Limitation
on
assignment
of
13
employee
rights
to
inventions.
14
1.
Any
provision
of
an
employment
agreement
which
provides
15
that
an
employee
shall
assign
or
offer
to
assign
any
of
16
the
employee’s
rights
to
an
invention
to
the
employer
shall
17
not
apply
to
an
invention
for
which
equipment,
supplies,
18
facilities,
or
trade
secret
information
of
the
employer
was
not
19
used
and
which
was
developed
entirely
on
the
employee’s
own
20
time,
unless
any
of
the
following
apply:
21
a.
The
invention
relates
to
the
business
of
the
employer
or
22
to
the
employer’s
actual
or
demonstrably
anticipated
research
23
or
development.
24
b.
The
invention
results
from
any
work
performed
by
the
25
employee
for
the
employer.
26
2.
A
provision
of
an
employment
agreement
in
violation
of
27
this
section
entered
into
between
an
employer
and
employee
28
on
or
after
the
effective
date
of
this
Act
is
void
and
29
unenforceable.
An
employer
shall
not
require
an
employee
to
30
enter
into
such
an
employment
agreement
as
a
condition
of
31
employment.
32
Sec.
3.
NEW
SECTION
.
94.3
Employee
notification.
33
If
an
employment
agreement
contains
a
provision
requiring
34
the
employee
to
assign
any
of
the
employee’s
rights
to
any
35
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S.F.
312
invention
to
the
employer,
the
employer
shall
provide,
at
the
1
time
the
agreement
is
made,
a
written
notification
to
the
2
employee
of
the
employee’s
rights
provided
by
section
94.2,
3
which
notification
shall
include
the
text
of
section
94.2.
4
Sec.
4.
NEW
SECTION
.
94.4
Employee
disclosure.
5
An
employee
shall
disclose
to
an
employer,
at
the
time
6
of
employment
or
thereafter,
all
inventions
developed
by
the
7
employee,
for
the
purpose
of
determining
employer
and
employee
8
rights
to
an
invention.
9
Sec.
5.
APPLICABILITY.
This
Act
applies
to
employment
10
contracts
entered
into
on
or
after
the
effective
date
of
this
11
Act.
12
EXPLANATION
13
The
inclusion
of
this
explanation
does
not
constitute
agreement
with
14
the
explanation’s
substance
by
the
members
of
the
general
assembly.
15
This
bill
provides
that
any
provision
of
an
employment
16
agreement
which
provides
that
an
employee
shall
assign
or
offer
17
to
assign
any
of
the
employee’s
rights
to
an
invention,
as
18
defined
in
the
bill,
to
the
employer
shall
not
apply
to
an
19
invention
for
which
equipment,
supplies,
facilities,
or
trade
20
secret
information
of
the
employer
was
not
used
and
which
was
21
developed
entirely
on
the
employee’s
own
time,
unless
specified
22
conditions
apply.
23
A
provision
of
an
employment
agreement
in
violation
of
the
24
bill
is
void
and
unenforceable.
The
bill
prohibits
an
employer
25
from
requiring
an
employee
to
enter
into
such
an
employment
26
agreement
as
a
condition
of
employment.
27
If
an
employment
agreement
contains
a
provision
requiring
28
the
employee
to
assign
any
of
the
employee’s
rights
to
any
29
invention
to
the
employer,
the
bill
requires
an
employer
30
to
provide,
at
the
time
the
agreement
is
made,
a
written
31
notification
to
the
employee
of
the
employee’s
rights
provided
32
under
the
bill.
33
The
bill
requires
an
employee
to
disclose
to
an
employer,
at
34
the
time
of
employment
or
thereafter,
all
inventions
developed
35
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