Rights to Service-Related Works and Inventions in Kyrgyzstan

1) Who owns the rights to service-related works and service inventions created by an employee in the course of their employment?

According to the Kyrgyz law, personal non-property rights to service-related works and service inventions, utility models, industrial designs  belong to the author.

Exclusive rights to use a service-related work belong to the employer at whose instruction the work was created, unless otherwise provided by an agreement between the employer and the author. 

2) What criteria determine whether a work or invention qualifies as service-related?

A work or invention is recognized as service-related if it was created by an employee:

• during an employment (service) relationship in accordance with the Kyrgyz legislation; 
• as a result of performing his or her employment (service) duties, or 
• while carrying out a specific assignment of the employer, recorded in the relevant documentation with which the employee was familiarized prior to the creation of a service invention, utility model, or industrial design.

3) Which rights automatically vest in the employer and which require a separate assignment?

Unless otherwise expressly provided in the employment agreement, the employer is deemed to own the following rights in service-related works and service inventions by default:

1. For service-created copyright works:

• Exclusive rights to use the work;
• The right to indicate its name (designation) on the work.

2. For service  inventions, utility models and industrial designs:

• The right to file a patent application for an employee-created invention and to obtain a patent;
• The right to patent in foreign countries.

4) Is an employer required to compensate an employee for a service invention or service-related work?

Yes. An author who does not hold the right to obtain the patent for service inventions has a statutory right to remuneration from the employer, payable in an amount and on conditions determined by agreement between them.  Similarly, for service-related works the amount of the author's remuneration for each type of use and the payment procedure are established by an agreement between the author and the employer.  

5) What documents should be put in place to establish and protect an employer’s rights to service-related works and service inventions? What intellectual property provisions should be included in an employment agreement?

To establish and protect an employer’s rights to service-related works and service inventions  there must be:

(i) a clearly drafted employment agreement and job description defining the employee's labor duties so that resulting IP falls within the “service-related” category; 

(ii) express IP clauses allocating economic/exclusive rights and confirming the employer's right to obtain patents;

(iii) a remuneration clause fixing the amount and payment terms for service inventions and service works; and

(iv) the employer's written decision in respect of the service invention (concerning the filing of an application; the assignment of the right to file an application and obtain a title of protection; or keeping the subject matter confidential).

It is also advisable to document service assignments, invention-disclosure and notification procedures, and confidentiality/non-disclosure obligations.

6) How are rights to service-related works and service inventions allocated within multinational corporate groups and in cross-border employment relationships?

Kyrgyz legislation does not contain a certain regime for multinational groups; the allocation of rights continues to be governed by the general provisions on employee-generated intellectual property. In this case, the existence of an employment contract is taken into account. If the employment contract is concluded with a Kyrgyz legal entity, that legal entity is recognized as the employer, and rights are allocated as described above in accordance with the laws of the Kyrgyz Republic. Exclusive rights are not automatically transferred to the parent company. The employer may transfer rights on the basis of a civil law transaction.   

7) What risks arise if an employment agreement does not contain provisions governing service-related works and service inventions?

In the absence of provisions on service inventions in the employment contract, the right to obtain a patent for a service invention belongs to the employer by default, unless otherwise provided by the contract between him and the employee.

The risks of losing the right to obtain a patent by the employer may arise if the 4-month deadline for making a decision is not met, after the employee notifies the employer in writing about the creation of the invention. In such case, the right to obtain a patent passes to the author (employee). In addition, failure to respect confidentiality entails liability and the obligation to compensate for damages.

For service-related works, the exclusive rights also belong to the employer by default (within the scope of the objectives of the assignment), unless the contract provides otherwise. However, the employer must take into account that after 10 years from the date of submission of the work by the author, the right to use it and receive remuneration in full passes to the author (former employee), regardless of the terms of the contract.

8) Can an employee claim rights to a work or invention created outside working hours using the employer’s resources or while working remotely?

The right to inventions created using the information, experience, material, technical and other means of the employer, but not in connection with the employee's performance of employment (service) duties or a specific task of the employer, belongs to the employee, unless the employment contract between him and the employer provides otherwise. In this case, the employer has the right to use the service invention in his own production with payment of compensation to the owner of the security document, determined on a contractual basis.

9) How can an employer protect its rights when the creator of a service-related work or invention leaves the company?

Protection is best secured before departure through written allocation of economic/exclusive rights, confirmation of the employer's right to obtain patents, and documented invention disclosures and assignments made during employment. 

Because the author's moral rights are inalienable and the right to remuneration survives, the employer should ensure remuneration terms are settled and rights already vested or assigned so they are unaffected by termination. Post-employment confidentiality obligations, timely patent filings (the right to file may pass to the author or lapse if the employer does not act within the statutory framework), and clear records of authorship and assignment further safeguard the employer's position.

10) How does the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems affect the legal treatment of service-related works and service inventions created by employees?

Kyrgyz law currently contains no specific provisions addressing AI-generated works or inventions created by employees, so this is an unsettled area. Under existing rules, authorship and inventorship are premised on the creative labor of a natural person, which means output generated autonomously by an AI system does not fit the statutory concept of a protectable “work” or “invention” with a human author.    Where an employee uses AI as a tool while exercising their own creative or inventive contribution, the ordinary service-IP regime should apply and rights allocate to the employer under the defaults or the contract.  Given the legal uncertainty, employers should address AI use, ownership, and disclosure expressly in policies and employment agreements pending legislative clarification. 

Authors: Elvira Maratova, Zhanygul Kaparova