Inventor Information Disclosure Requirements Across Major Jurisdictions: IP5 and WIPO -- AIPPI China

On November 13, 2025, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released revision to the Patent Examination Guidelines (Decree No.84). The revised Guidelines officially took effect on January 1, 2026, which clarify that starting January 1, 2026, the identity information of all inventors must be completed in the Request Form all Chinese patent applications, and its authenticity must be ensured. This adjustment has garnered widespread attention and discussion. This article outlines the specific requirements for inventor information disclosure by CNIPA, others major IP offices (United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea), and WIPO, aiming to offer practical guidance for managing transnational patent portfolio.

I. China (CNIPA)

Pursuant to Rule 14 of the Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law of China, an inventor is defined as “a person who has made a creative contribution to the substantive features of an invention or creation." Under the previous Patent Examination Guidelines, for the first inventor who is a mainland Chinese national,, full name, nationality and ID card number were required, but for the first inventor who is not a mainland Chinese national (including foreigners, and Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan residents) and for all other inventors, only full names were required.

According to the revised Patent Examination Guidelines, an inventor shall be an individual, i.e., a natural person; and the identity information of all inventors must be filled in the request form and its authenticity shall be ensured. This explicitly rules out AI as an inventor and eliminates distinctions between first and other inventors for information disclosure.

For specific identity information scope, the Revision extends the requirements for the first inventor to all inventors: Chinese national inventors must provide resident ID card numbers; non-Chinese inventors (including foreigners, and Hong Kong, Macao, orTaiwan residents) must provide nationality, with the type and number of ID card optional. A public letter from CNIPA’s Department of International Cooperation to the U.S. Embassy further clarifies that “In view of the considerable differences in the types of identity documentation available to inventors in various countries, the CNIPA patent-processing system does not make ‘type of document’ and ‘document number’ mandatory fields for inventors or designers who are not of Chinese nationality.”

The Revision this time has raised the requirements for inventor identity information, and its main purpose is to curb false identity patent filings, ensuring patents are granted to genuine innovators and upholding the patent system’s fairness and authority.

II. United States (USPTO)

Under 35 U.S.C. § 100(f) and the "Revised Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions" revised in November 2025, only natural persons can be inventors or joint inventors, and AI systems are prohibited from being listed as inventors. Under 37 CFR § 1.76(b)(1), the Application Data Sheet (ADS) must set forth the legal name (consistent with birth certificates or marriage licenses), residence (city and state/country), and mailing address of each inventor. No ID/passport numbers are required, with focus on valid mailing addresses for communication.

III. Europe (EPO)

Rule 19 of the Implementing Regulations of the European Patent Convention (EPC) stipulates that the inventor must provide: family name and given names of the inventor, the country and place of residence (effective April 1, 2021, replacing the prior full address requirement). The EPO conducts only a formal review of inventor designation without verifying information accuracy, and clarifies AI lacks legal capacity to be an inventor. In addition, since November 1, 2021, the European Patent Register only publishes an inventor’s name and country/place of residence (excluding full address).

IV. Japan (JPO)

Article 36 of Japan’s Patent Act requires patent application forms to include each inventor’s name and, and the residence or domicile; only natural persons can be the inventor (excluding AI). Nationality and identification numbers are not mandatory, with information requirements focused on the practical function of communication.

V. South Korea (KIPO)

Article 42(1) of the Patent Act of South Korea mandates inventor name and address in applications, limiting inventors to natural persons. Rule 4 of the Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act and Application Form No. 1, which took effect on November 1, 2024, make nationality and country of residence mandatory for all inventors (domestic and foreign).

VI. WIPO (PCT)

The PCT system divides inventor information requirements into international and national phases: the international phase complies with Regulations under the PCT, and the national phase follows designated/selected countries’ patent laws. Rules 4.4(c) and 4.6(a) of the Regulations requires the international application request form to list each inventor’s name and address (separately for joint inventors); the address should be indicated to allow prompt postal delivery; an employer's address is acceptable.

VII. Comparison and Analysis of IP5 and WIPO

All IP5 jurisdictions and WIPO share the following common requirements:

(1) Inventors must be natural persons (excluding legal persons, organizations and AI);

(2) Name and contact address are basic requirements;

(3) Inventor information is subject to formal review only by patent offices.

For the ease of comparison, the requirements for inventor information across the IP5 patent offices and WIPO are summarized in the table below:

Conclusion

While all of the aforementioned countries/regions adhere to the basic principle that inventors must be natural persons, their paths toward privacy protection differ: Europe narrows the scope of publicly disclosed information, South Korea withholds sensitive information, and China emphasizes internal administrative safeguards. This institutional divergence deeply reflects the varied trade-offs between upholding the rights of true inventors and safeguarding privacy across different countries