Patent and inventorship issues over the last thirty years of optical storage technology

A pioneering invention yields first-of-a-kind technology with useful results. Once patented, the inventor is identified by name, Other persons, if any, named after the inventor, are fully credited with being co-inventors. In any case, credit for one's work is an intellectual asset, whether it is based on a legal document, which a patent is, or on a published paper in a technical journal. The idea that a company can invent, or call itself an inventor, is questionable by law. Often endowed with broad education and experience, curiosity and vision, inventors and their patent portfolio may be the application of the "Five I's:" Inspiration, imagination, intuition, insight and initiative. If so, then the invention of the optical disk system may be an example of this premise.