Assignee of Patent Law and Legal Definition
Assignee of patent is a person who holds, by a valid assignment in writing, the whole interest of a patent, or any undivided part of such whole interest, throughout the United States.
Patents or any interest therein may be assigned by an instrument in writing, and the patentee, his assigns or legal representatives, may in like manner grant and convey an exclusive right under the patent; and where the conveyance precedes the granting of the patent, it may be issued to the assignee, the assignment thereof being first entered of record in the Patent Office.
When the patentee assigns the patent to a purchaser, the assignee acquires only the exclusive right to make, use, and vend the patented improvement during the term for which the patent was granted, unless the instrument of assignment contains words showing that the parties intended that the instrument should be more comprehensive and include the extended term in case an extension should be granted by the commissioner. [Hendrie v. Sayles, 98 U.S. 546 (U.S. 1879)].
