Page 40 - Mass General Brigham - Innovators Guide 1.2

40 INNO V AT O RS GUIDE | M ASS GENERAL BRIGH AM

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5 Intellectual property

Inventorship questions or disputes Legacy of invention at

The standards for Inventorship in Patent Law are different from and may Mass General Brigham
be more stringent than the standards for scientific authorship. Although
an invention comprises both a complete performance of the creative part
of the invention (“Conception”) and the carrying out of the creative part
(“Reduction to Practice”), Inventorship is limited to Conception.
Inventorship must be correct for patent validity. If there is any question
about correct Inventorship, innovators should bring it to the attention
of their Licensing Manager. After an initial assessment, the Licensing
Manager may then engage a patent attorney in the IP group. The Licensing
Manager and/or IP group attorney will then work with the inventor to
assess the contributions made by the innovators and determine whether
a contribution rises to the level of Inventorship. Written records (e.g. lab
notebooks, emails, grants, published papers, etc.) can be helpful in this “If you’ve got a vision, I would say just put your
determination. In certain circumstances, the Licensing Manager might also head down and do it. The successful inventors
engage other staff or outside patent attorneys in resolving an inventorship I know are very tenacious and they just stick
question or dispute.
with it. It may take years, it might take 10 or
15 years, but the drive to learn something new
Ownership and to deliver something for our patients is all
wrapped up in the same equation. If you just
IP discovered during employment and activities supported by Mass
General Brigham and all its entities is owned by Mass General Brigham. hang in there, good things really do happen. ”
Joint appointments should be disclosed to properly determine
IP ownership. Paul Ridker, MD
Director, Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention,
For more information, please contact and/or: phspatents@partners.org Brigham and Women’s Hospital Eugene Braunwald
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School