In these circumstances, a shop right may apply. The shop right is a common law doctrine founded in equitable principles that allows an employer to use the employee's invention without payment to the employee if that invention was made using the employer's time, materials, facilities, or equipment.
In such cases, a workplace right may apply. The shop right is a traditional law-based concept based on equitable standards that allows an employer to utilize an employee's innovation without remuneration to the employee, given that it was created using the employer's assets and infrastructure.