Special rights for inventors at universities:
- Obligation to report: The inventor must report the discovery to the university immediately and in full by means of an invention disclosure form.
- Freedom of publication (§ 42(1) ArbEG): University staff have the right to publish their research findings within the scope of their teaching and research activities.
- The two-month period: If an inventor wishes to publish their invention, they must notify the university at least two months in advance. During this period, the university has the opportunity to examine the invention and file a patent application in order to secure priority rights. Once the two months have elapsed, the researcher may publish without restriction, even if the university has not completed the registration process for a patent by that time.
- Negative freedom of publication (Section 42(2) ArbEG): If a researcher does not wish to publish their invention at all (e.g. for ethical reasons or to keep it as a trade secret), they are not required to report it to the university as a service invention – unless they intend to exploit it commercially in some other way