IP Intelligence › In Simple Words › Assignment
In simple words
Assignment
Who owns the invention is a question most startups answer three years late, usually during due diligence.
- In simple words
- A transfer of ownership of a patent or an application from one person to another. In India it must be in writing, and it has to be recorded in the register to be effective as evidence of title.
- Think of it as
- The deed of sale for the right.
- Why it matters
- An unrecorded or missing assignment is one of the most common problems found in investment diligence. A patent filed in a founder's personal name, or an invention made by a consultant with no written assignment, can hold up a funding round or an acquisition.
- A simple example
- Two co-founders invent; the application is filed in the company's name without a written assignment from either. Ownership is at best arguable and at worst defective.
- Common mistake
- Assuming that because someone was paid, the company owns the invention. Indian law does not transfer patent rights by implication as freely as people expect.
Sources & further reading
- The Patents Act, 1970 (consolidated to 1 August 2024) — Official IP India text
Related
Inventorship
The identification of the person or people who actually devised the invention as claimed - which is legally distinct from who owns it.
Getting founder IP into the company
Not automatically. Pre-incorporation inventions belong to the individuals until a written assignment moves them, and that assignment has to be specific and recorded.
Nobody wrote down who owns it
An invention belongs to its inventors unless something in writing moves it. Filing in the company's name does not by itself transfer anything. Ownership defects are …
Before a funding round or an acquisition
IP diligence rarely finds bad patents. It finds missing paperwork - and that is what delays closings and re-prices rounds.
Keep going.
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Educational guidance, not legal advice. This material is published by Ragulika IP for general education and information. It is not legal advice, it does not create a professional-client relationship, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Patentability, infringement, prosecution strategy and every other IP outcome turn on the specific facts and on the law and Patent Office practice as they stand at the time you act. Please take professional advice before making a decision, and read the underlying provision or judgment before relying on any point stated here.
Last reviewed by Ragulika IP on 2026-08-23. Indian patent law and Patent Office practice change; check the position before you rely on it.