In the simplist of situtations, there is only a sole inventor, working independently. Sometimes two or more persons combine their ideas to make a complete invention. In this case all of the inventors must apply together for the patent and each of them has the same ownership in the issued patent, even though they did not all contribute equally. In a work situation an employee has a right to patent and own his ideas unless he was hired to invent something in the same general area. In the event the inventor was hired to invent or had made an agreement to assign all rights to his employer, the right to apply for and ownership of the issued patent belong to the employer.
Invention is actually the combination of two events.
First, the ideas or concept which will become the essence of the patent must be conceived. When this idea is put into a working model or reduced to practice, invention occurs. The inventor is not required to file an application at that time. He may file at some later time and still obtain a patent, provided he did not create any statutory bars for himself or one else creates such a bar to obtaining a patent. See Statutory Bars, below.