Employee and Employer Intellectual Property Disputes

Intellectual property disputes between employees and employers rarely arrive at a convenient moment. A senior engineer leaves to start a company and the former employer claims rights to her invention. A physician’s hospital asserts that a clinical tool was created on its time. A startup discovers, in due diligence, that its founders never properly assigned the IP that drives the business. Each of these matters turns on a small set of recurring questions — who owned the idea, when it was conceived, what was signed, and whether the agreement is enforceable under the relevant state’s law.

Cohen IP Law Group concentrates a meaningful portion of its practice on these disputes. We represent engineers, scientists, physicians, founders, and the employers across from them, with a particular focus on California law, federal patent matters, and the Pre-Invention Assignment Agreements that drive most modern ownership disputes.

Who We Represent

• Engineers, scientists, and physicians leaving employment to pursue independent ventures
• Founders evaluating IP ownership inherited from prior employment
• Startups preparing for financing or acquisition, where investors require clean IP chain of title
• Established companies enforcing assignment agreements or responding to misappropriation claims
• In-house counsel and HR leaders shaping IP onboarding and offboarding policies

Our clients work in software, biotechnology, medical devices, hardware engineering, and eDiscovery. Many find us at a moment of transition — a planned departure, a cease-and-desist letter, a financing diligence request, or a regulatory inquiry into proprietary technology.

Scope of Services

Invention Ownership Analysis and Disputes

We analyze whether an invention belongs to the employee, the employer, or both — under California Labor Code § 2870, the federal hire-to-invent doctrine, the Supreme Court’s framework in Stanford v. Roche, and recent Federal Circuit guidance on assignment language. Where the law and the facts support it, we enforce ownership rights or defeat overreaching claims.

Pre-Invention Assignment Agreements (PIIA / CIIA / IAA)

We draft, review, and litigate the agreements at the center of most employer-employee IP disputes. For employees, we assess enforceability and carve-out language. For employers, we close the gaps that surface in litigation and acquisition diligence.

Trade Secret Claims and Defense

We handle trade secret matters under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) and the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act (CUTSA), including misappropriation claims against departing employees, defense of former employees facing such claims, and the risk-management work that precedes either.

Departing Employee IP Audits

A fixed-scope review of the employment agreement, invention assignment, current projects, and outside work — delivered as a written risk analysis before the transition. The goal is to identify exposure and document defensible separation between prior employment and the next venture.

Founder and Startup IP Health Checks

A diligence-grade review of every employee and contractor IP assignment in the company, with a gap analysis and remediation plan. Designed to be completed before a priced financing round or acquisition diligence, when undocumented ownership becomes a deal issue.

Pre-Litigation Strategy and Litigation

Demand letters, response packages, settlement negotiation, and litigation in California state courts and the federal courts, including the Federal Circuit. We work alongside trial counsel in jurisdictions where co-counsel is appropriate.

Why Clients Choose Cohen IP

Concentrated practice. Employee and employer IP disputes are a substantial portion of our work, not a peripheral offering. Many matters arrive on referral from prior clients, employment lawyers, and corporate counsel who recognize the issue requires patent-aware judgment.

Patent depth. Michael N. Cohen is admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office in addition to the State Bar of California. Invention ownership disputes turn on technical questions — what was conceived, when, and whether the work falls inside the employer’s scope — that generalist litigators are not trained to evaluate.

Recognized authority. The firm was recognized in the Chambers Spotlight California 2026 guide for intellectual property. Our published guidance on California Labor Code § 2870, recent Federal Circuit decisions on assignment language, and the foundational rules of employee-employer IP ownership are widely cited and read.

Representative Matters

• Represented a senior software engineer in a Bay Area ownership dispute, where a former employer asserted rights to a side project under a Pre-Invention Assignment Agreement.
• Defended a physician inventor against trade secret allegations brought by a prior hospital employer concerning a clinical innovation.
• Advised an eDiscovery professional on departure IP risk, including review of confidentiality obligations and proprietary contributions made during prior employment.

Client identities, jurisdictions, and matter details have been anonymized. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Schedule a Consultation

If you are navigating an employee-employer IP dispute, considering a departure with IP risk, or evaluating ownership before a financing or acquisition, the firm offers a confidential consultation. We work with clients in California and on federal patent matters nationwide, with co-counsel arrangements available for out-of-state proceedings where appropriate.

Reach our intake team via the contact page.

Submitting an inquiry does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send confidential or time-sensitive information through the contact form. An attorney-client relationship is established only after a written engagement agreement is signed by both you and Cohen IP.