35 U.S.C. 261規定專利所有權（ownership）與讓渡（assignment），專利發明人本身為專利申請權人與擁有人，而這些權利也是可以轉讓的權利，專利局應該記錄這些資訊。如果專利權人要執行讓渡、授權或轉讓，應於執行後，或是執行後續交易三個月內登記在專利局。
37 C.F.R. § 3.73描述專利權人除非經讓渡，否則本身即專利申請權人與擁有人，商標也是。而這些權利歸屬與轉換都需要與商標與專利受理單位的書面資料。
MPEP 308提到，如果專利申請人不是發明人，應該提出書面資料，使得專利審查階段所有的文件遞送都有依據，如果缺乏這類文件或通知，專利局將假設沒有改變申請人。非發明人的申請人相關文件證明，如聘僱合約，應於領證繳費前提交。
案例：
在美國最高法院2011年案例「BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY v. ROCHE MOLECULAR SYSTEMS, INC., ET AL.」中，其中發明人在學校任職，再轉職到民間公司完成了發明，不過又回任學校，申請專利並取得專利權，也轉讓給學校，不過被大廠收購的這間民間公司也實現了這個發明，但卻被學校提出專利侵權告訴，但收購這民間公司的大廠也宣稱擁有專利權，於是爭議變成專利權歸屬的議題。
以上故事頗為經典，也應該是常見的爭議：發明人遊走不同公司之間，最後產出的專利權是誰的？
如以上列舉法條，專利權原則上是發明人的，但是在受聘僱的條件下應該屬於雇主。本案涉及學校領取了美國聯邦政府的研發補助，但學校需要透過契約保留發明留下的權利，但此學校卻未依照規定透過契約取得這位發明人的權利，也就喪失了權利。而此民間公司至少在發明完成時與發明人有聘僱關係，也擁有權利，相對於接受聯邦補助的學校欠缺了某些條件，使得並未保留專利權。CAFC認定專利權為兩者共有。
最高法院最後判定學校敗訴。因為學校缺少了符合聯邦資助下應該要保留權利的行為（契約），因此在發明人與民間公司的契約下，權利應該也屬於民間公司，最後是共有的狀況。訴訟不成立。
美國最高法院對於Ownership的判決報導：
http://cdnet.stpi.narl.org.tw/techroom/pclass/casefocus/2011/pclass_casefocus_11_007.htm
[相關法條]
專利受讓人的規定：
35 U.S.C. 261 OWNERSHIP; ASSIGNMENT.
Subject to the provisions of this title, patents shall have the attributes of personal property. The Patent and Trademark Office shall maintain a register of interests in patents and applications for patents and shall record any document related thereto upon request, and may require a fee therefor.
Applications for patent, patents, or any interest therein, shall be assignable in law by an instrument in writing. The applicant, patentee, or his assigns or legal representatives may in like manner grant and convey an exclusive right under his application for patent, or patents, to the whole or any specified part of the United States.
A certificate of acknowledgment under the hand and official seal of a person authorized to administer oaths within the United States, or, in a foreign country, of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States or an officer authorized to administer oaths whose authority is proved by a certificate of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States, or apostille of an official designated by a foreign country which, by treaty or convention, accords like effect to apostilles of designated officials in the United States, shall be prima facie evidence of the execution of an assignment, grant, or conveyance of a patent or application for patent.
An interest that constitutes an assignment, grant, or conveyance shall be void as against any subsequent purchaser or mortgagee for a valuable consideration, without notice, unless it is recorded in the Patent and Trademark Office within three months from its date or prior to the date of such subsequent purchase or mortgage.
37 C.F.R. § 3.73 Establishing right of assignee to take action.
(a) The original applicant is presumed to be the owner of an application for an original patent, and any patent that may issue therefrom, unless there is an assignment. The original applicant is presumed to be the owner of a trademark application or registration, unless there is an assignment.
(b) In order to request or take action in a trademark matter, the assignee must establish its ownership of the trademark property of paragraph (a) of this section to the satisfaction of the Director. The establishment of ownership by the assignee may be combined with the paper that requests or takes the action. Ownership is established by submitting to the Office a signed statement identifying the assignee, accompanied by either:
(1) Documentary evidence of a chain of title from the original owner to the assignee (e.g., copy of an executed assignment). The documents submitted to establish ownership may be required to be recorded pursuant to § 3.11 in the assignment records of the Office as a condition to permitting the assignee to take action in a matter pending before the Office; or
(2) A statement specifying where documentary evidence of a chain of title from the original owner to the assignee is recorded in the assignment records of the Office (e.g.,reel and frame number).
(c)
(1) In order to request or take action in a patent matter, an assignee who is not the original applicant must establish its ownership of the patent property of paragraph (a) of this section to the satisfaction of the Director. The establishment of ownership by the assignee may be combined with the paper that requests or takes the action. Ownership is established by submitting to the Office a signed statement identifying the assignee, accompanied by either:
(i) Documentary evidence of a chain of title from the original owner to the assignee (e.g., copy of an executed assignment). The submission of the documentary evidence must be accompanied by a statement affirming that the documentary evidence of the chain of title from the original owner to the assignee was or concurrently is being submitted for recordation pursuant to § 3.11; or
(ii) A statement specifying where documentary evidence of a chain of title from the original owner to the assignee is recorded in the assignment records of the Office(e.g., reel and frame number).
(2) If the submission is by an assignee of less than the entire right, title and interest (e.g., more than one assignee exists) the Office may refuse to accept the submission as an establishment of ownership unless:
(i) Each assignee establishes the extent (by percentage) of its ownership interest, so as to account for the entire right, title and interest in the application or patent by all parties including inventors; or
(ii) Each assignee submits a statement identifying the parties including inventors who together own the entire right, title and interest and stating that all the identified parties own the entire right, title and interest.
(3) If two or more purported assignees file conflicting statements under paragraph (c)(1) of this section, the Director will determine which, if any, purported assignee will be permitted to control prosecution of the application.
(d) The submission establishing ownership under paragraph (b) or (c) of this section must show that the person signing the submission is a person authorized to act on behalf of the assignee by:
(1) Including a statement that the person signing the submission is authorized to act on behalf of the assignee;
(2) Being signed by a person having apparent authority to sign on behalf of the assignee; or
(3) For patent matters only, being signed by a practitioner of record.
MPEP 308 ISSUE TO APPLICANT
35 U.S.C. 118 and 37 CFR 1.46(e) provide that where the Director grants a patent on an application filed under 35 U.S.C. 118 by a person other than the inventor, the Office must grant the patent to the real party in interest. Therefore, the Office is requiring applicants other than the inventor to notify the Office of any change in the real party in interest in a reply to a notice of allowance. Absent any such notification, the Office will presume no change has occurred and will grant the patent to the real party in interest of record.
Applicants other than the inventor can notify the Office of a change in the real party in interest by providing the real party in interest in Box 3 of the PTOL-85B. See MPEP § 307.
Applicants other than the inventor should record the documentary evidence of ownership (e.g., assignment for an assignee, employment agreement for a person to whom the inventor is under an obligation to assign the invention) before payment of the issue fee.
資料參考：www.bitlaw.com
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