Who is the inventor of an invention?

United States patent applications must be filed in the name of the true inventor. An inventor is anyone who contributes to the subject matter of one or more of the claims of the application. In many instances more than one person is an inventor. A person may be named as an inventor even if he or she did not work on the invention at the same time as the other inventor or inventors. Similarly, the fact that one person’s contribution is less than the others does not preclude him or her from being named as an inventor.

Either at the time the application is filed or subsequently during the period allowed by the United States Patent Office, an oath or declaration of the inventor must be filed. The oath or declaration includes a statement that the person signing is the “original and first” inventor of the subject matter which is claimed, that the application has been reviewed and understood and that there be an acknowledgment of the duty to disclose all information which is material to the prosecution of the application, i.e. prior art that the inventor is aware of and a copy of the declarations that are used are attached.