How does the MPEP address inventions made jointly by employees of different organizations?
The MPEP addresses inventions made jointly by employees of different organizations in MPEP 715.01(a). It states:
‘Where the reference and the application or patent under reexamination are commonly owned, and the inventions claimed in the application or patent under reexamination and in the reference are not identical but are not patentably distinct, a terminal disclaimer and an affidavit or declaration under 37 CFR 1.130(a) may be used to overcome a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103.’
This means that in cases where employees from different organizations jointly invent something, they may need to file a terminal disclaimer and an affidavit to overcome certain rejections, especially if the inventions are related but not identical.
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