Reference no: EM133800201

Question

Rzeppa was an engineer for a company that had a patent for an improvement in a constant velocity universal joint. The company had difficulties adapting the invention for commercial use. Rzeppa worked for more than a year in an effort to perfect and develop the universal joint so that it could be produced commercially for a profit. He requested that the company provide him with an assistant, so the company assigned Stuber, an experienced draftsman in its engineering department, to work with Rzeppa full-time. Stuber's job was to make drawings of the various sizes of the universal joint that Rzeppa was working on so that it could be properly manufactured. The company had required Rzeppa to sign an invention assignment agreement, but did not ask Stuber to do so. While on his lunch hour one day, Stuber conceived of the idea of a self-piloting, constant velocity, universal joint with eccentric surfaces that eliminated the problems associated with the universal joint that Rzeppa was working on. Stuber immediately made a drawing of his idea. During his lunch hour the next day, he made another, more detailed, drawing, which he showed to Rzeppa and company officials. Rzeppa stated that the idea was of no value, and the company officials stated that they did not understand it. Stuber continued to make detailed drawings during his lunch hour and while at home. Eventually, after a period of several months, the company made models of the joint invented by Stuber, and they proved successful. Stuber informed the company he had applied for a patent on his invention, and demanded that the company pay a royalty for use of the invention. The company contends that the invention belongs to it. Who is right, and why?