Are inventors always subject to the duty to disclose?
Yes, inventors are always subject to the duty to disclose information material to patentability. The MPEP, citing 37 CFR 1.56(c), explicitly states that individuals associated with the filing or prosecution of a patent application include:
“(1) Each inventor named in the application”
This means that every inventor listed on a patent application has a duty to disclose information they are aware of that is material to the patentability of the invention. This duty exists regardless of whether the inventor is directly involved in the preparation or prosecution of the application itself.
To learn more:
Topics:
MPEP 2000 - Duty Of Disclosure,
MPEP 2001.01 - Who Has Duty To Disclose,
Patent Law,
Patent Procedure