Power of Attorney in Employment Agreement

I have seen a few employment and independent contractor agreements recently that contain a power of attorney from the employee/contractor to the employer/company to prosecute copyright/patent applications or otherwise act in the employee's stead with respect to intellectual property matters for work done for the company. Has anyone seen any case law on whether this is acceptable? Any opinions on whether this is a good/bad idea? Necessary? For those in favor, does anyone have good form language that they might be willing to share?

Thanks.

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