17 - Does Paying Innovative Employees Pay Off?:

Summary

One can say that intellectual property laws, or at least their main concepts, are gradually becoming more and more similar around the world, and particularly across Europe. This trend can surely be attributed to the requirements of global trade and international protection, which are formally encapsulated in the various international conventions concerning intellectual property rights (IPRs). In Europe, the tendency toward uniform regulation is obviously much stronger as most IPRs are, to a certain degree, harmonized, whether formally, by directives and regulations of the European Union, or otherwise (e.g. European Patent Convention). It should therefore come as no surprise that this is also true of Central and Eastern European countries, particularly those that have become EU Member States. It is increasingly difficult to single out areas in intellectual property law that would be substantially different in these countries than in others, or which could become the subject of independent policy considerations. Nevertheless, one such area clearly comes to mind, and has not yet received much attention from policy-makers: the regulation of reward for innovation and creativity in employment situations. The remuneration of employed inventors and authors for patents, copyright works, and other IP-protected results of their work still tend to differ significantly from country to country.¹