One of the most important articles of the European Patent Convention 1973 (EPC), Article 52 (1), states that, “European patents shall be granted for any inventions, in all fields of technology, providing that they are new, involve an inventive step, and are susceptible of industrial application."
In most IP and ICT scenarios, inventors have to work together with other team members or an external organisation for research and development of the invention. In these situations, inventors should enter into a legal contract known as a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with the other team members or the external organisation.