Invention

An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition or process. The invention process is a process within an overall engineering and product development process. It may be an improvement upon a machine or product, or a new process for creating an object or a result. An invention that achieves a completely unique function or result may be a radical breakthrough. Such works are novel and not obvious to others skilled in the same field. An inventor may be taking a big step in success or failure.

Some inventions can be patented. A patent legally protects the intellectual property rights of the inventor and legally recognizes that a claimed invention is actually an invention. The rules and requirements for patenting an invention vary from country to country, and the process of obtaining a patent is often expensive.

Another meaning of invention is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social behaviours adopted by people and passed on to others. The Institute for Social Inventions collected many such ideas in magazines and books. Invention is also an important component of artistic and design creativity. Inventions often extend the boundaries of human knowledge, experience or capability.

Inventor (patent)

In patent law, an inventor is the person, or persons in United States patent law, who contribute to the claims of a patentable invention. In some patent law frameworks, however, such as in the European Patent Convention (EPC) and its case law, no explicit, accurate definition of who exactly is an inventor is provided. The definition may slightly vary from one European country to another. Inventorship is generally not considered to be a patentability criterion under European patent law.

Under U.S. case law, an inventor is the one with "intellectual domination" over the inventive process, and not merely one who assists in its reduction to practice. Since inventorship relates to the claims in a patent application, knowing who an inventor is under the patent law is sometimes difficult. In fact, inventorship can change during the prosecution of a patent application as claims are deleted or amended.

"Joint inventors", or "co-inventors", exist when a patentable invention is the result of inventive work of more than one inventor. Joint inventors exist even where one inventor contributed a majority of the work.

Inventor (role variant)

The Inventor Rational is one of the 16 role variants of the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, a self-assessed personality questionnaire designed to help people better understand themselves. David Keirsey originally described the Inventor role variant; however, a brief summary of the personality types described by Isabel Myers contributed to its development. Inventors correlate primarily with the Myers-Briggs type ENTP.

Overview

Inventors tend to be expressive, introspective, tough-minded, and probing. They can become highly skilled in functional engineering and invention. Of all the role variants, Inventors are the most resistant to doing things a certain way just because it was done that way in the past. Designing and improving mechanisms and products is their constant goal. Intensely curious, Inventors have an entrepreneurial character and are always looking for new projects to work on.

Though full of ideas, Inventors are primarily interested in those that can be put into action or used to make products. They see product design as a means to an end, the goal being a marketable prototype. When beginning a project, they rarely start with a blueprint. They are confident in their ability to find effective and pragmatic solutions during the design process.