Who is an inventor?
An inventor is one who is not directed or controlled, but one who actively conceives of the invention, i.e. who comes up with not only the idea, but also the manner in which is to be reduced to practice. There may be more than on inventor and co-inventors do not even have to work together in the same location; however, they must have achieved the idea through collaborative efforts. Each co-inventor must work on the same subject matter and make some contribution to the idea of the invention. Each must have contributed to the final result. If an inventor comes from a number of steps taken together, each inventor must perform at least one of the steps. The amount of experimental work of each may be different, as may the number of suggestions of each, as long as each co-inventor contributes at least some original aspect to the invention’s final solution. Supervisor-employee relationships are not necessarily determinative in defining co-inventorship; nor are faculty advisor-student research
An inventor is the “idea” person who has the creative concepts that make the invention new and nonobvious (see #3 below). A person is considered an inventor on a patent if he/she contributed conceptually to either of the two foundations of patent rights: conception or reduction to practice. Conception is the mental part of inventing, and reduction to practice describes the demonstration that the invention will work for its intended purpose. Inventors employed by an institution or company are often required to assign (legally transfer) their rights in their inventions to their employer. Under the assignment, the employer acquires all patent rights and is listed in the patent as the assignee (owner) although the employee(s) will be listed as the inventor(s).
