CFR > Title 37 - Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights > CHAPTER I—UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE > SUBCHAPTER A—GENERAL (parts 1 to 5) > PART 1—RULES OF PRACTICE IN PATENT CASES > SUBPART B—National Processing Provisions (§1.31 to §1.378) > 1.45—Joint inventors.

1.45—Joint inventors.

(a) Joint inventors must apply for a patent jointly and each must make the required oath or declaration: neither of them alone, nor less than the entire number, can apply for a patent for an invention invented by them jointly, except as provided in § 1.47.
(b) Inventors may apply for a patent jointly even though
(1) They did not physically work together or at the same time,
(2) Each inventor did not make the same type or amount of contribution, or
(3) Each inventor did not make a contribution to the subject matter of every claim of the application.
(c) If multiple inventors are named in a nonprovisional application, each named inventor must have made a contribution, individually or jointly, to the subject matter of at least one claim of the application and the application will be considered to be a joint application under 35 U.S.C. 116. If multiple inventors are named in a provisional application, each named inventor must have made a contribution, individually or jointly, to the subject matter disclosed in the provisional application and the provisional application will be considered to be a joint application under 35 U.S.C. 116.

Code of Federal Regulations

( 35 U.S.C. 6 , Pub. L. 97-247)

Code of Federal Regulations

[48 FR 2709, Jan. 20, 1983, as amended at 50 FR 9379, Mar. 7, 1985; 60 FR 20222, Apr. 25, 1995]