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	Applicant must be an individual, not a company
	Inventor has the sole right to file an application
	Inventor:  one who conceives and reduces to practice the subject matter of the application
	Inventor must sign an oath or declaration under penalty of perjury
		he invented the subject matter
		he believes it to be patentable

	Inventor is one who conceived the idea
	Owner is one who has the right to exclude others from using the idea
	Inventors may be obligated to assign patent rights to employer, who owns the invention
	Absent an agreement, each owner has right to make, use, sell or offer to sell the invention without consent of other owners and without sharing in proceeds with other owners

	Inventorship is determined by reference to the invention as defined by the claims in a patent application.
	Inventorship exists if a named inventor has invented the subject matter of at least one claim in the application

	Amount and type of contribution need not be equal among inventors
	Inventors need not work in the same physical space
	Some collaboration and/or joint behavior is necessary

	Affects Title, Commercialization Issues
		Allows for exclusive licensing
		Simplifies enforcement efforts
	Patent Invalidity—a patent is invalid if
		(a) more or less than the true inventors are named and
		(b) the error in naming them was intentional and deceitful

	Inventorship is a legal conclusion
	Determined on a claim-by-claim basis
	Defined:  conception and reduction to practice

	“Conception is the touchstone of invention”
	Formation in the mind of the inventor of a definite and permanent idea of the complete and operative invention
	Definite and permanent:  when only ordinary skill would be necessary to reduce the invention to practice without extensive research or experimentation

	Conception is a “mental act”
	Inventor should be able to describe the invention with particularity
	No need for actual manufacturing of invention

	Testing or improving another’s idea
	Belief that an invention will work
	Knowledge of the result the invention should achieve
	Suggesting a desired result without disclosing means to achieve the result
	Posing the problem without posing the solution

	During Prosecution of the Application
	Before an oath is filed:
		Executed oath
	After an oath is filed:
		Statement by all inventors, including those being added or deleted that error was not through deceit or fraud
		Newly executed oath
		Consent of the Assignee (patent owner)

	After the Patent Issues
	Petition—includes statement of all inventors, consent of assignee, and oath
	Court order

	Inventor A discusses with Inventor B his idea to incorporate nano-scale clays into polymers to manipulate the properties of the polymer
	Inventor B suggests that Inventor A pretreat the clay material prior to incorporation
	Inventor A discovers that separating platelet particles prior to incorporation results in a better polymer/platelet interface

	Scenario 1:
	The process of separating platelets prior to incorporation into polymers is known in the art
	Inventor B’s “contribution” relates to the reduction of the invention to practice
	Scenario 2:
	The separation process is not known to result in an increased polymer/platelet interface, Inventor B may be an inventor to a claim for the process of preparing the material

	USC Researcher is developing a new material made from polyester and clay.
	Graduate student works on synthesizing the material.
	Graduate student presents article for journal publication; USC Researcher is co-author.

	Graduate student’s “contribution” was his reduction of the invention to practice
	Graduate student’s authorship does not amount to inventorship
	USC Researcher is the sole inventor

	University researcher attends a conference hosted by a government agency.
	Agency requests proposals for a garment having communications capabilities.
	University researcher submits a proposal for a shirt having a computer infrastructure woven within the fibers.

	Government agency presented the problem, but it did not present the solution
	Researcher solved the problem
	Researcher is the sole inventor

	Keep thorough laboratory notebooks
		Entries in date order
		Entries in ink
	Do not erase, white out or permanently conceal any information in the notebook
	Date and witness notebook entries regularly

	Record ideas in a bound book
	Use material transfer agreements to send or receive physical samples
	Know the terms of the agreements with parties with whom you are collaborating
	Communicate these policies to team members