Since patent registries are fully public, i was wondering whether it is legal to use a nominee as patent inventor to preserve privacy. I tried to google for this, but I was only able to find results related to awards, while what i mean is a person that accepts to be listed as the inventor and will be transferring the ownership to their client
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2The answer might depend on country. Is there a specific country you are interested in?– Eric SCommented Nov 14, 2021 at 19:58
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@EricS I had US in mind, in fact. Although it might be interesting to know if there is any country where this isn't the case– Pa_Commented Nov 14, 2021 at 20:07
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1 Answer
No, in the US at least, a true inventor must be named. And an address given. Other places may not have the same principle that ownership starts with inventors. In the US, a person who is an inventor must sign a declaration that they consider themselves a true inventor as a fundamental part of a patent application. The AIA law softened that a little in the case of an employee who pre-assigned their rights to a company if the company can’t get their cooperation at the time of filing. The names of the inventors are still required to be correct. The inventor(s) can assign ownership rights but the ownership rights start with one or more people who are the true inventors.
This principle is keeping AI systems from being named inventors, as ruled recently in the US and UK.
answered Nov 14, 2021 at 20:01
