Executive Summary: University inventions require two distinct but coordinated inquiries: inventorship follows the patent claims, while ownership follows the chain of title. The same federal inventorship standard applies to undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, professors, and staff, regardless of academic rank, funding responsibility, supervision, or authorship credit. Ownership, by contrast, depends on the individual’s relationship to the institution a

Executive Summary: This article explains why, for employee inventions, naming the employer as the applicant under 35 U.S.C. § 118 and Rule 1.46 generally provides greater continuity and corporate control than naming the employee-inventor, particularly if the employee later leaves, becomes unavailable, or refuses to cooperate. Employer-applicant status allows the company to direct prosecution, appoint counsel, and, when the statutory requirements are satisfied, execute a subst