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News article31 October 2022

Just Released: Updated Fact Sheet on Inventorship, Authorship and Ownership

Ownership of Intellectual Property (IP), inventorship or authorship of creations and the differences between these concepts can be confusing and cause misperceptions.  

European IP Helpdesk team has just released a new fact sheet that aims to clarify the concepts of ownership, inventorship and authorship, by explaining the different characteristics and shedding some light on the way they should be dealt with in order for any person involved in the creation of intangibles to properly identify them and avoid encountering serious problems.

Inventorship identifies the creator of an invention whereas ownership recognises the right to possess that invention, namely a proprietary right that prevent others from using their IP. Moreover, the inventor is not necessarily the author. Additionally, while inventors and authors are always natural persons, owners can also be legal persons. 

The fact sheet can be found here together with the previous editions covering different topics.

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Publication date
31 October 2022