Dr. George Sausen Director of Intellectual Property. Inc. Understanding the difference between inventorship and authorship will prevent common misunderstandings which often confuse and annoy young industrial scientists.
Authorship is interpreted in industry in much the same way as in academia.
The only difference is a tendency to be more inclusive, in the list of authors, of anyone who contributed in any significant way. Contributors who may be given an acknowledgment in the paper in the academic lab, may be included as authors. Practices may vary among labs within a company. Inventorship, on the other hand, is a legal concept only partly coincident with the individuals who contributed intellectually to the invention. In a typical industrial lab, inventorship will be assigned by the Legal Department primarily on the basis of the written documentation in the case.