§42 of the German Employee Inventions Act (ArbErfG)
The following special provisions apply for inventions by a person or persons employed by a university:
(1) The inventor shall have the right to publish work pertaining to an invention made in the course of the performance of his or her contracted teaching and research activities (hereinafter “employee's invention”) provided that he or she has informed his or her employer of his or her intention to do so in advance, the usual notice period being two months. § 24 para. 2 is, therefore, not applicable.
(2) In the event that the inventor chooses to exercise his or her academic freedom not to publish anything in relation to the employee's invention , he or she shall not be obliged to report the invention to his or her employer. Should the inventor wish to publish anything in relation to the invention at a later date, then he or she shall undertake to report the invention to his or her employer without delay.
(3) In the event that the university chooses to claim the employee's invention, the inventor shall retain an inalienable right to utilise the employees' invention in the course of his or her contract teaching and research activities.
(4) Should the employer choose to exploit the employee's invention, then the inventor(s) shall be remunerated at a rate of 30 per cent of all revenues generated through the exploitation of the invention.
(5) § 40 No. 1 is, therefore, not applicable.
