What is the Difference Between Inventor and Natural Person?

Last updated: June 2021

PatentSight distinguishes between six different owner types as outlined below: 

	Company
	Government
	Inventor
	Natural Person
	NPE
	Research

The owner types "Inventor" and "Natural Person" are patent owners, who hold patents on their own and either do not belong to a company, NPE, research or governmental institution, or who cannot be allocated to any ultimate owner for other reasons.

• An owner is categorized as “Inventor” if the applicant name and the inventor name stated in the member document(s) of a patent family are the same.
• An owner is categorized as “Natural Person” if the applicant name and the inventor name stated in the member document(s) of a patent family are not the same.