In the absence of a clear policy, ownership of an invention unrelated to the company product made by an employee belongs to

• A. The Company
• B. Joint Ownership
• C. The Employee
• D. Policy Holder

Answer: (D)

The main idea is who owns an invention when there’s no policy guiding it. If the invention is unrelated to the company’s product and it’s created by the employee outside of work time and without using company resources, the inventor typically owns it. The company only gains rights if there’s an explicit invention assignment or a policy that transfers ownership to the employer, or if the invention was developed within the scope of employment or using company resources. Since there’s no policy, there isn’t a mechanism to hand ownership to the employer, so ownership generally remains with the employee who created it. The term “policy holder” isn’t usually the governing concept here unless a contract designates someone as holder; without such a policy, no separate policy holder owns the invention.