One of the recent changes under the AIA allows for an assignee, an obligated assignee (e.g., a person with an assignment clause in their employment agreement), or a person who otherwise shows sufficient proprietary interest in the matter to file and prosecute a patent application as the “applicant.” This definitional change no longer makes the “applicant” synonymous with the inventor(s) and harmonizes the term more with international conventions. It also leads to the question: are there any reasons to or not to file as the applicant-assignee?
