What is joint ownership of a patent?

Joint ownership of a patent occurs when multiple parties together own the entire right, title, and interest of the patent property. This can happen in several scenarios:

• Multiple partial assignees of the patent property
• Multiple inventors who have not assigned their rights
• A combination of partial assignee(s) and inventor(s) who have not assigned their rights

In cases of joint ownership, all parties having any portion of the ownership must act together as a composite entity in patent matters before the USPTO. According to 35 U.S.C. 262, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, each joint owner may make, use, offer to sell, or sell the patented invention within the United States without the consent of and without accounting to the other owners.