in circumstances where a written agreement is not in place between employer and employee, the employee may hold title to the intellectual property rights as an inventor. 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. unfortunately for employers, shop rights being an equitable right are non-transferable, so an employer holding shop rights may not transfer those rights via license or assignment, such as, for example, if the employer were to be purchased or acquired at some later date. accordingly, this makes having only shop rights an undesirable position for most employers.