Ingersoll-Rand Company, a New Jersey Corporation, and Ingersoll-Rand Research, Inc., a Delaware Corporation…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the Appellate Division’s reversal of the trial court, holding that the employee’s post‑termination “holdover” invention‑assignment clause was unenforceable. The Court found that the defendant’s friction‑stabilizer was not derived from the employer’s trade secrets and that enforcement of the clause would be unreasonable under the Solari/Whitmyer reasonableness test. Accordingly, the plaintiff was not entitled to an assignment of the patent or an accounting of profits.