Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

My fiance and I co-own (2-member LLC) a manufacturing company. We are getting ready to patent the invention and my partner suggests it should be in his name only. Does it matter? Doesn`t the LLC own the patent... or should it be in both names? I will ultimately consult an attorney but wanted to get some background on this first.

the attorney can get into the details with you.  start there.

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James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

While that advice is sound, it seems like there`s a lot here that should be openly discussed. 

 - Does it matter what country they are in?

 - Is it even possible for an LLC to acquire a patent?  I thought only natural people could get them, but then assign them to corporations.

 - What`s going on behind the scenes of the business?  Why does your partner want sole inventorship?  Are there any advantages or is this all about vanity?

 - How do you plan to handle future patents?  How do you plan to reward those to assign patents to your LLC?

 - Do you really need a patent here, since you`re doing it yourself, or do you need a trade secret?  Put another way, is the patent on the process or on the product?

 - How long before you get your patent?  How long after that before you get to defend it?

In general I wish you great success.  Thinking about these things now is like thinking about raising teen-agers before you get pregnant; a great idea that makes life easier later but not absolutely essential to your current process.  :-)



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Richard Johnson
New Ideas for a New World