Ownership of intellectual property is an important corporate governance issue for companies, universities, research institutes and businesses. As intellectual property represents one of the most valuable assets on the balance sheet of many organisations, adequate and effective processes and procedures for ensuring the organisation’s ownership of intellectual property on creation, protection and ongoing management are critical. This legal update examines the decision on University of Western Australian v Gray [2009] FCAFC 116, which highlights what happens when contracts of employment or engagement do not adequately deal with intellectual property ownership, especially in respect of inventions made in the course of research [read more].