Clarifying the Muddy Metaphysics of Joint Inventorship: Part II

Earlier this year, in Nartron Corp. v. Schukra U.S.A. Inc., 558 F.3d 1352 (Fed. Cir. 2009), the Federal Circuit clarified the contribution required for a person to be a named as a joint or co-inventor. More recently, in University of Pittsburgh v. Hedrick, ___F.3d___, 2009 WL 2183175, 91 U.S.P.Q.2d 1423 (Fed. Cir. July 23, 2009), the Federal Circuit has again attempted to clarify another aspect of joint inventorship. This time, the court considered the quanta of knowledge that inventors must have regarding the claimed invention before conception and, consequently, inventorship are established. Read more.