Editing Patent (section)

===Ownership===
In most countries, both natural persons and corporate entities may apply for a patent. In the United States, however, only the inventor(s) may apply for a patent, although it may be [[assignment (law)|assigned]] to a corporate entity subsequently<ref>{{cite web | title=Assignee (Company) Name | url=http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week39/OG/help/help.htm#Assignee%20(Company)%20Name | work=Help Page | publisher=U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) | access-date=2007-07-25 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814113345/http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week39/OG/help/help.htm#Assignee%20(Company)%20Name | archive-date=2007-08-14 }}</ref> and inventors may be required to assign inventions to their employers under an employment contract. In most European countries, ownership of an invention may pass from the inventor to their employer by rule of law if the invention was made in the course of the inventor's normal or specifically assigned employment duties, where an invention might reasonably be expected to result from carrying out those duties, or if the inventor had a special obligation to further the interests of the employer's company.<ref>See [http://www.ipo.gov.uk/practice-sec-039.pdf Section 39 of the UK Patents Act] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225004529/http://www.ipo.gov.uk/practice-sec-039.pdf |date=2009-02-25 }} as an example. The laws across Europe vary from country to country but are generally harmonised. In an Australian context, see ''University of Western Australia v Gray'' [2008] FCA 498 [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/federal_ct/2008/498.html AUSTLII] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828081819/http://www6.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/FCA/2008/498.html |date=2023-08-28 }}</ref> Applications by artificial intelligence systems, such as [[DABUS]], have been rejected in the US, the UK, and at the European Patent Office on the grounds they are not natural persons.<ref name="sonnemaker">{{cite web |last1=Sonnemaker |first1=Tyler |title=No, an artificial intelligence can't legally invent something – only 'natural persons' can, says US patent office |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/artificial-inteligence-cant-legally-named-inventor-us-patent-office-ruling-2020-4?r=US&IR=T |website=Business Insider |access-date=26 August 2020 |archive-date=3 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103075655/https://www.businessinsider.com/artificial-inteligence-cant-legally-named-inventor-us-patent-office-ruling-2020-4?r=US&IR=T |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Ejector seat with patents cropped.jpg|thumb|right|The plate of the Martin [[Ejection seat|ejector seat]] of a military aircraft, stating that the product is covered by multiple patents in the UK, South Africa, Canada and pending in "other" jurisdictions. [[Dübendorf]] Museum of Military Aviation.]]

The inventors, their successors or their assignees become the proprietors of the patent when and if it is granted. If a patent is granted to more than one proprietor, the laws of the country in question and any agreement between the proprietors may affect the extent to which each proprietor can exploit the patent. For example, in some countries, each proprietor may freely license or assign their rights in the patent to another person while the law in other countries prohibits such actions without the permission of the other proprietor(s).

The ability to assign ownership rights increases the [[market liquidity|liquidity]] of a patent as property. Inventors can obtain patents and then sell them to third parties.<ref>[http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/27-trips_04c_e.htm Article 28.2 TRIPs] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622154724/https://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/27-trips_04c_e.htm |date=2017-06-22 }}: "''Patent owners shall also have the right to assign, or transfer by succession, the patent and to conclude licensing contracts.''".</ref> The third parties then own the patents and have the same rights to prevent others from exploiting the claimed inventions, as if they had originally made the inventions themselves.