patent law requires that only a person or persons who invent patentable subject matter be named as a sole or joint inventor of a claim in a pending application or issued patent. patent law does not equate authorship with inventorship. In addition, acknowledging all who contributed to a project is encouraged. Naming all coauthors on a journal article as joint inventors may be the less controversial means to determining inventorship of a patent claim because many in academia and industry are familiar with the requirements for authorship. Who are the inventors of the patent application claiming the new method to knock out the gene and the treatment of the neurological disorder? Should all the coauthors named on the manuscript be named as joint inventors? A patent application was filed prior to submission of the manuscript. The two professors, the graduate student, and the two technicians are named coauthors. A manuscript is prepared and submitted to a prestigious journal. The initial proof of concept is successful, and two technicians are assigned to the project to complete the experiments, acting under the direction and supervision of the graduate student utilizing the procedures developed by the graduate student. Another laboratory donates the materials. However, the techniques require reagents that are not commercially available. She begins corresponding directly with the physician–scientist. During the course of the project, there is trouble with the conventional techniques for knocking out the gene and the graduate student modifies the procedure, creating new techniques she independently developed. A graduate student, studying under the molecular biologist, is assigned to the project. In his laboratory, the molecular biologist and those working under his direction and supervision apply techniques well known in the field to knock out the gene selected by the neurophysiologist. The two design the experiments to show that knocking out the gene will treat the disease in an experimental animal model. The other, an expert molecular biologist, has the expertise to knock out the gene but has never studied neurophysiology and has no expertise in treating the fatal neurodegenerative disease. However, she lacks the expertise to design and perform the experiments to actually knock out the gene. One professor, a neurophysiologist and expert physician, has studied the disease and its symptoms, and conceived of the idea to treat the disease by knocking out the gene. Two professors meet and design experiments to prove that knocking out a gene will treat a fatal neurodegenerative disease.
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