Many inventions have two or more inventors, and many patents exist whose ownership is shared by two or more distinct entities. Neither joint inventorship nor joint ownership prevents a patent from being enforceable. This is not true, however, of joint infringement. Patents can indeed be found on...

In this month’s column, Teressa Szelest, the president of market and business development North America for BASF Corp., talks about innovation strategy and how she balances quarterly results with investments in long-term research and development....