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Question
Rhea, a software engineer employed by TechNova Labs, signs an invention clause: 'All inventions conceived or reduced to practice during the term of employment, and related to TechNova's business or developed with TechNova's time, facilities, or resources, shall be the sole property of TechNova.' While on a weekend at home, using her own laptop and cloud storage, Rhea develops a novel cryptographic protocol that is unrelated to TechNova's business and files for a patent in her own name. TechNova asserts ownership under the clause. (a)Who owns the patent given these facts? (b)What is the controlling doctrine at play, and how does it apply to the facts? (c)If TechNova wishes to assert ownership, what must it prove to overcome Rhea's title to the patent, and how would the outcome change if Rhea had used TechNova resources or if the invention related to TechNova's business?