How to resolve inventorship disputes

As an inventor of a product it is important that you patent the product to give greater strength to your ownership which will help to prove your ownership in the courts. Patents by themselves do not prove that the owner is the inventor, but they do own the rights to the product or process.

The patent application is based on how the invention is defined and in what form. An invention can be any new product or apparatus, or method or process, which is properly described in the application. All people who contributed to the actual making of the invention may be included as inventors on the patent application depending upon their involvement, financial input/reward and any agreement between such parties.

Each inventor will be informed that a patent application has been filed so that they, or others, have a chance to dispute the ownership of the invention. In some countries it is mandatory that each member under the inventor list sign the application before submitting it.  In certain instances, like correction of details or similar issues, it may be necessary to change the inventorship details that have been provided to the Patent Office.  By default, in the UK, the inventor is the first owner of an invention.  However, in majority of the cases, the ownership of the rights to a patent will pass from the inventor to their respective employer through their employment.

Inventorship determines ownership of the eventual patent. It is important for the courts to know the ownership of the said product or service to ensure that any claim made on that technology is valid.  Without a patent, it is still possible to prove ownership but this may present difficulties and delays and additional costs should you go to court.

In the last few years Inventorship disputes have increased dramatically, partially due to an increased amount of research and development work being performed by different entities.

As in all commercial disputes it is much better to try and reach an out of court settlement through arbitration or mediation. this is typically undertaken through the inventorship dispute resolution services. This is much more cost effective than litigation and prevents prolonged time going through the courts. If you are an individual and are battling against a large company they could tie you up in litigation for years with the aim of waiting for you to run out of money and giving up on the case.

PowerLegal have experts in invention dispute resolution and can provide expert witnesses in the Inventorship Dispute Resolution Services. PowerLegal can also recommend which route to go down and the benefits and negatives of each route.

Contact PowerLegal for a free appraisal of your eligibility of our No Win No Fee commercial litigation services.