Although the inventor is the first owner of an invention, in the vast majority of cases in the UK the ownership of the rights to a patent will pass from the inventor(s) to their respective employer(s) by virtue of their employment.

Where there is any doubt as to whether the rights have been transferred it may be agreed that the inventor(s) should sign a formal agreement (called an assignment) transferring their rights to their employer(s).

Arrangements for the division of income from commercialisation of research and inventions differ - you should discuss this with the technology transfer staff your own institution. By way of example, the University of Cambridge has a published policy on sharing income.

Some potential pitfalls which are sometimes overlooked when determining ownership are:

• Where one or more of the inventors is employed by a company that is part of a larger group of companies, then it is wise to check that the employee(s) concerned really are employee(s) of the company which is to file the patent application and not, for example, of a subsidiary or service company. Again, if there is any doubt, assignment may be required.
• If some or all of the research work has been done by an academic institution, then it is possible that some of the inventors (e.g. PhD students or visiting scientists) may not in fact be employees at all. It is also possible that more senior academic staff may have complicated employment arrangements with the academic institution or special conditions relating to inventions. Inventions in these cases may not therefore automatically belong to the academic institution or sponsoring company.
• If any of the inventive research has been done by a sub-contractor or a consultant, then clearly there will be no employment relationship and the particular contracts involved will have to be examined carefully in order to determine ownership.
• Where the inventive research is a result of collaboration between different companies or institutions, the ownership will be dictated not only by the existence of employment contracts, but also by the contractual relationship between the collaborators.