1. Who needs to declare an invention?

The right to a patent belongs to the inventor or his successor in title (article L. 611-6 of Code de la propriété intellectuelle ). However, the legislator has introduced a specific legal regime for employee inventions, under which the invention belongs either to the employee or to his employer, depending on the conditions under which the invention was made.

Article L. 611-7 of Code de la propriété intellectuelle , which is binding unless contractual provisions are more favourable to the employee, sets out the following principles:

• inventions made...