翻訳コラム

平成26年に特許法が改正されたばかりなのに、次の改正も閣議決定されました。職務発明が会社のものになる、という話題になった改正です。しかし条文をよく見ると、無条件に会社のものになるのではなく、契約、勤務規則などで予め定めた場合のみです。現在の特許法では、予め契約などで定めた場合には、会社に承継されると定めており、これは「予約承継」といわれています。 改正後は予め会社に帰属すると定められるので、私は「予約帰属」と呼んでいます。

ところで、今ベストセラーになっている小説「ぼくは愛を証明しようと思う。」(藤沢数奇著、幻冬舎)は、恋愛が苦手な弁理士が主人公ですね。
藤沢数奇のブログは以前から私もファンでしたが、この方が弁理士を主人公にして下さるとは!。弁理士が主人公でも固い特許の本ではなく、恋愛工学の本であるところがよいですね。

Although the Patent Act revised in 2014 has become in effect, the next revised Patent Act was approved in a Cabinet Meeting. This revised Act includes a very topical provision that an employee's invention shall belong to an employer (a company). Referring to the new article carefully, an employee's invention shall not belong to a company unconditionally but only when an agreement or an employment regulation etc. provides so in advance.
The present Patent Act provides that an employee's invention shall be transferred to a company when an agreement etc. provides so in advance, which is referred to as "a reserved transfer".
Under the revised Act, an agreement etc. may provide that an employee's invention shall belong to a company in advance, which I refer to as "a reserved ownership".

By the way, the present best-selling novel, "I Try to Prove Love Affair" (written by Kazuki Fujisawa, GENTOSHA INC.), in which the main character is a patent attorney who is not good at love and romance.
I am a fan of Mr. Fujisawa's blog, and surprisingly, the main character of the story is a patent attorney!
The wonderful part about this novel and why I like it is because it's not a difficult patent book, but rather a book about ‘love engineering' eventhough the main character is a patent attorney.