What is the role of an assignee in a patent application?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

An assignee is an entity or person to whom the inventor has transferred some or all rights to the patent. While an assignee cannot be named as the applicant for patent applications filed on or after September 16, 2012, they still play important roles in the patent process. According to MPEP 605: ‘The assignee… may sign the patent application papers if the assignee is an applicant (i.e., the assignee has been named as the applicant for the patent application in the application data sheet).’ This means that while the inventor(s) must be named as the applicant(s), an assignee can sign certain documents and may have rights to the patent once it’s granted.