Why dont inventors patent

Urbanization, high innovative quality, and low costs of patenting also encourage patenting, but these influences are small compared with industry effects. If the effectiveness of secrecy is an important factor in inventors' patenting decisions, scientific breakthroughs, which facilitate reverse-engineering, should increase inventors' propensity to patent.

The discovery of the periodic table in offers an opportunity to test this idea. Exhibition data show that patenting rates for chemical innovations increased substantially after the introduction of the periodic table, both over time and relative to other industries. The views expressed herein are those of the author s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Download Citation Data. Naming the correct inventors is critical when drafting a U. Patents must have all inventors properly named. Deciding who is an inventor is a complicated task and great care must be taken to not add or omit people who are not inventors.

It is possible that failure to properly name the inventors could result in losing your patent or its value. If inventors have been improperly added or omitted, the patent must be corrected or it could be declared invalid.

You can correct the inventors. The USPTO requires a petition stating that it was an error and all the parties and assignees must make the application, agreeing it should be corrected.

If it cannot be corrected, the patent is lost. Owning a patent is different than being an inventor. Owning a patent allows the owner to enjoy the value of the patent and to prevent others from infringing.

Ownership is acquired from the inventors, typically through an assignment of their rights. An assignment is a legal document transferring the rights of the inventors assignors to the owner assignee. Initially, every inventor owns an equal right to the patent, no matter what they contributed. This means that each inventor can do what they want with the patent. They can sell it, license it, make and sell the product or process covered by the invention, all without the permission of any other inventor.

They can also frustrate any lawsuits, since all owners have to be joined in a lawsuit. To prevent each inventor from doing what they want, the rights are assigned to a single person or entity. Once assigned, that person or entity owns all rights. However, even with an assignment, if you missed an inventor, you may find that someone else owns the same rights that you own in the patent.

Each inventor owns a pro rata undivided interest in the entire patent, no matter their respective contributions. A joint inventor of just one claim enjoys a presumption of ownership of the entire patent. In , Ethicon, a manufacturer of surgical instruments, filed a patent infringement suit against a competitor, United States Surgical, over U. Patent No. The inventor named on the patent was Dr. Inbae Yoon. Yoon granted Ethicon an exclusive license to practice his invention.

We all have the opportunity now, to take our experience and knowledge and invest that in the organization. We can take a break from our traditional leadership roles of meetings and schedules and take the time to step back, and give back, and be the leader that supports the innovation lying dormant within our own businesses.

Bill Walker is an IT guy, globalization driver, door opener, and super-dad traveling the globe to solve the sticky problems. Skip Article Header. Skip to: Start of Article. Originally posted by:. Bill Walker. View original post. Skip Social. Skip to: Latest News. Share Share Tweet Comment Email. Skip Comments. Skip to: Footer. View comments. Submit Thank You. Invalid Email. Follow Us On Facebook Don't miss our latest news, features and videos.