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An inventor is a person who creates or discovers new methods, means, or devices, though the term is formally reserved for those who have been granted a patent. For this sense, seeinventor (patent). Patents may be granted on technical devices such as mechanical, electrical or software devices or methods. Many things which are not patentable, or are not generally patented, may nevertheless be considered the product of the work of an inventor. Examples include new methods or products of artistic expression or mathematics. As in the case of formal inventorship, the key element is surprise to those knowledgeable in a domain.
Summary of inventor in the formal sense Inventorship is a key determination in establishing patent rights. The system of patents was established to encourage inventors by granting limited-term, limited monopoly on inventions determined to be sufficiently novel, non-obvious, and useful. In the U.S. the intellectual property clause of the Constitution permits (but does not mandate) laws to be passed establishing patent and other intellectual property rights. Etymology The word "inventor" comes form the latin verb invenire, invent-, to find. ** Co-inventor The definition for inventorship can be simply stated: "The threshold question in determining inventorship is who conceived the invention. Unless a person contributes to the conception of the invention, he is not an inventor. . Insofar as defining an inventor is concerned, reduction to practice, per se, is irrelevant except for simultaneous conception and reduction to practice, Fiers v. Revel, 984 F.2d 1164, 1168, 25 USPQ2d 1601, 1604-05 (Fed. Cir. 1993). One must contribute to the conception to be an inventor." In re Hardee, 223 USPQ 1122, 1123 (Comm'r Pat. 1984). See also Board of Education ex rel. Board of Trustees of Florida State Univ. v. American Bioscience Inc., 333 F.3d 1330, 1340, 67 USPQ2d 1252, 1259 (Fed. Cir. 2003) ("Invention requires conception." With regard to the inventorship of chemical compounds, an inventor must have a conception of the specific compounds being claimed. "General knowledge regarding the anticipated biological properties of groups of complex chemical compounds is insufficient to confer inventorship status with respect to specifically claimed compounds."); Ex parte Smernoff, 215 USPQ 545, 547 (Bd. App. 1982) ("one who suggests an idea of a result to be accomplished, rather than the means of accomplishing it, is not an coinventor"). See MPEP § 2138.04 - § 2138.05 for a discussion of what evidence is required to establish conception or reduction to practice. * Inventors clubs Inventors clubs provide a support infrastructure for inventors, especially useful for lone inventors who otherwise may not have anyone impartial they can freely talk to about their inventions. There are probably thousands of such clubs around the world (see also national associations or local UK clubs on WRTI Clubs, the web site of the Wessex Round Table of Inventors). See also Notes | ||||||||
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