This article, written by George E. O'Brien Jr. of Littler's New Haven office, comments on Mayo Clinic v. Peter L. Elkin. The case highlights employment issues that hospitals and medical research institutions face when trying to retain rights to inventions developed by employee researchers who later move on to other institutions. How an institution can protect itself in these instances without negatively impacting its reputation with peers, its ability to attract future research grants, and its attractiveness when recruiting top talent is a vexing problem, writes O'Brien.