What happens if someone else claims to have invented your invention? In the United States, only the first inventor has rights to patent protection of an invention. When two or more parties claim to have invented the same invention, an interference determines the actual first inventor, who will subsequently be awarded the patent rights.
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Hill, L. Interferences: rights of the first inventor in the US. Nat Rev Drug Discov 4, 365 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd1725
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd1725