North Carolina § 66-209 - Definitions.

§ 66-209. Definitions.

As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the meanings given: "Contract" or "contract for invention development services" means a contract by which an invention developer undertakes invention development services for a customer for a stated payment or consideration, whether or not the payment or consideration has yet been made. "Customer" means any natural person who is solicited by, inquires about, seeks the services of, or enters into a contract with an invention developer for invention development services. "Invention development services" means any act done by or for an invention developer for the procurement or attempted procurement by the invention developer of a licensee or buyer of an intellectual property right in an invention. The term includes the evaluation, perfecting, marketing, brokering, or promoting of an invention, a patent search, and preparation or prosecution of a patent application by a person not registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. "Invention" means any discovery, process, machine, design, formulation, composition of matter, product, concept, or idea, or any combination of these. "Invention developer" is an individual, firm, partnership, or corporation, or an agent, employee, officer, partner, or independent contractor of one of those entities, that offers to perform or performs invention development services for a customer and that is not: A department or agency of the federal, State, or local government; A charitable, scientific, educational, religious, or other organization qualified under G.S. 105-130.9 or described in Section 170(b)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; A person registered before the United States Patent and Trademark Office acting solely within the scope of that person's professional license; A person, firm, corporation, association, or other entity that does not charge a fee, including reimbursement for expenditures made or costs incurred by the entity, for invention development services other than payment made from a portion of the income received by a customer by virtue of the acts performed by the entity; or An attorney licensed to practice law in North Carolina acting solely within the scope of that person's professional license. "Business day" means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. History (1989, c. 746, s. 1; c. 770, s. 62.1(1), (2); 1991, c. 235, s. 1.) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2001-424, ss. 15.1(a) and (b), provide: "(a) Prior to (i) the transfer of any patentable intellectual property or (ii) the release of any State grants or loans to non-State entities for purposes related to the development of patentable intellectual property, the transferring State agency, institution, or other entity of the State shall prepare and submit to the Governor, the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, and the Chairs of the House of Representatives Science and Technology Committee and the Senate Information Technology Committee a written evaluation of the following matters: "(1) If the proposed or pending transaction involves the transfer of patentable intellectual property developed by State employees within the scope of their employment: "a. The nature of the State's interest in the patentable intellectual property. "b. The potential value of the State's interest in the patentable intellectual property. "c. How to best protect the State's interest in the patentable intellectual property, as appropriate. "(2) If the proposed or pending transaction involves the release of State grants or loans to a non-State entity for purposes related to the development of patentable intellectual property, the measures employed by the non-State entity to assure that the State funds do not inappropriately inure to the benefit of individuals serving in an official capacity for the State, a State agency, or the non-State entity that receives the funds. "(b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section [s. 15.1(a) of Session Laws 2001-424] do not apply to The University of North Carolina and its constituent institutions, or to the North Carolina Community Colleges System, or to employees of these respective institutions who are subject to the intellectual property and inventor policies of the institutions employing them." Legal Periodicals. - For article, "Working Without Chevron: The PTO as Prime Mover," see 65 Duke L.J. 1657 (2016). For article, "CBA at the PTO," see 65 Duke L.J. 1701 (2016). For article, "How Courts Adjudicate Patent Definiteness and Disclosure," see 65 Duke L.J. 609 (2016). For article, "Intelligent Design,” see 68 Duke L.J. 76 (2018).