There are four major considerations that determine the decision to file a patent application in an individual’s name or in the business name: Cost, Investor’s Requirement, Economy, Patent Infringement

1. Individual name vs. Business name
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2.  Filing a patent in the individual’s name or in
the business name, has always been a source of
confusion.
 The answer to this dilemma is never definitive.
 You have to carefully weigh the alternatives
before making the decision.
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3.  There are four major considerations that
determine the decision to file a patent
application in an individual’s name or in the
business name:
a) Cost
b) Investor’s Requirement
c) Economy
d) Patent Infringement
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5.  Cost is the foremost consideration for most
Patent applicants. They want to keep the patent
filing cost at a minimum.
 The cost for filing a patent application in India
is way lower for an individual as compared to
a company.
 If cost is the sole consideration then it is better
to file the patent application in the name of the
individual
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7.  If your company is backed by investors then
filing a patent application depends on their
requirement
 Usually, the inventors prefer patents to be in
the name of the company, rather than in the
name of an individual as this increases the
credibility of the company.
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9.  A patent back by a company always has more
credibility than a patent backed by an
individual.
 Therefore, a patent registered in a business
name will draw more revenue than a patent
registered in an individual’s name.
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10.  Suppose a patent is infringed upon, the remedy
for infringement entitles you to damages or an
account for profits.
 If the patent was owned by a company then the
damages awarded will be much larger than
what will be awarded for a patent owned by an
individual.
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11.  If a company (not a startup) is incorporated
recently and it does not have a lot of finances, it
is always better to register a patent in the
individual’s name.
 This has two advantages: first, the whole cost
of registration will be less; second, the utility of
the patent can be tested in the market before
spending a lot of money on the registration.
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12.  Registering a patent in the name of the
business has the undeniable advantage of
adding credibility to the patent.
 The most economic option, therefore, is to first
register the patent in the individual’s name and
then after the company stabilizes in the market,
transfer the patent (by way of assignment) to
the company’s name.
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