What names should I include as inventors on the UMBI Invention Disclosure Form?
Accurately identifying all the inventor(s) is a prerequisite for a valid U.S. patent. The patent attorney who prepares the application can assist with this determination. Any person who actually intellectually contributed to the conception of an inventive idea and/or the reduction to practice of the invention (taking the invention from the eureka stage to actuality stage) must be included as an inventor. A person who merely carried out the inventor’s instructions during the reduction to practice stage, or acted only as a pair of hands does not qualify as an inventor. Similarly, the inventor’s supervisor (e.g., lab director) does not become a co-inventor merely because he or she is responsible for the lab.
