Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Washington
transfer of patent rights
My partners wanted to give me 50% of the patent rights. How do I go about making this legal and what forms must I get and from where? And then I wanted to give some of my percentages away would I repeat the same process that I'm doing with my partners?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: transfer of patent rights
Patents can be transfered by the inventors just like any other property rights. A transfer of patent rights is called an assignment, and is described further on the Patent Office website here: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/0300_301.htm.
As far as forms, here is one example: http://www.uspto.gov/web/forms/sb0015.pdf.
You will also typically want to record the assignment at the Patent Office, to put others on notice of your ownership of the patent. You can find further information on the Patent Office website.