Shaw

This case involves a dispute over a policy of the Regents of the University of California (the University) which provides that, as a condition of employment by the University, an employee must assign to the University any of the employee’s inventions and patents conceived in the course of employment; as consideration for the assignment, the employee will get a percentage of those net royalties and fees received by the University for a patented invention.

When Associate Professor Douglas V. Shaw was hired by the University to teach and do research, the patent policy specified that employees would get 50 percent of the net royalties and fees received from their inventions. The University later revised the policy to reduce this percentage. When the University announced it would pay Shaw the reduced percentage for his patented inventions conceived after the policy change, Shaw brought this action, seeking a declaration that he is entitled to 50 percent of the net royalties and fees.

The University appeals from the judgment entered in Shaw’s favor following an order granting summary judgment on his complaint for declaratory relief. According to the University, the patent…