Who may apply for a patent on an idea?
Only the true inventor can apply for a patent for an idea which he developed. In the simplist of situtations, there is only a sole inventor, working independently. Sometimes two or more persons combine their ideas to make a complete invention. In this case all of the inventors must apply together for the patent and each of them has the same ownership in the issued patent, even though they did not all contribute equally. In a work situation an employee has a right to patent and own his ideas unless he was hired to invent something in the same general area. In the event the inventor was hired to invent or had made an agreement to assign all rights to his employer, the right to apply for and ownership of the issued patent belong to the employer. The employer will also obtain a nonªexclusive paid-up personal license in an invention of an employee who worked on the idea on company time, used company equipment and resouces.
