Before a patent application is filed, it must be determined who the inventors of the subject matter are. Naming the correct inventors is vital, because failure to do so may invalidate the patent, even if the invention itself is novel and non-obvious.
Generally speaking, an inventor is someone who contributed to the conception of an invention. Joint inventorship is also possible, even though the joint inventors may not work on the project at the same time or in the same location. It’s also important to realize that the inventorship of a particular patent application is determined based on the claims of the patent application.
Each named inventor must have contributed to the inventorship (i.e., the conception) of the subject matter of at least one claim. Note that a technician who built a prototype merely by following the instructions of the inventor or inventors is not generally considered to be an inventor. This is vastly different than, for example, an academic paper, in which everyone who performed work is usually listed as an author of the paper. Consult with patenting agencies, such as InventHelp, for more information.
The issue of inventorship must be kept in mind throughout the entire patenting process. During the process, amendments may be made to the claims and other parts of the patent application. Particularly if amendments are made to the claims, it is the responsibility of the patent agent as well as the inventors to ensure that the list of named inventors is still correct in view of the new or amended claims. As you can see, it is very important to have a patenting agency like Invent Help by your side.
Procedures are available for removing an inventor if his or her contributions are no longer claimed, and for adding an inventor whose contributions to the invention are newly claimed. Inventors may also be added or deleted if they were mistakenly named or not named in the original list, provided that there was no deceptive intent in the error.