Determination and ethics of inventorship

CHAL 26

Jay M. Brown, jmb@eclipsegrp.com, THE ECLIPSE GROUP LLP, 5003 Southpark Drive, Suite 260, Durham, NC 27713
Determining inventorship involves collecting the facts of researchers' contributions to conception and applying defined legal standards. However, the facts often are not clear. Scientists, business managers and others may also have strong opinions as to whether they should or should not be designated as inventors. When an error in inventorship occurs, the good faith intent of those involved is critical. This presentation will review the legal standards for determining inventorship, how to collect the facts and apply the law to them, and the implications of good and bad faith in determinining and later attempting to correct inventorship.