The National Academy of Inventors®
- recognizes and encourages inventors who have a patent issued from the United States Patent and Trademark Office
- enhances the visibility of university and non-profit research institute technology and academic innovation
- encourages the disclosure of intellectual property
- educates and mentors innovative students
- encourages the translation of the inventions of its members to benefit society
The NAI edits the international journal Technology and Innovation - Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors®, published by Cognizant Communication Corporation.
Membership in the National Academy of Inventors® is available through local university and non-profit research institute chapters only. To join your university or non-profit research institute's chapter, you must be a member of your institution's academic community (includes faculty, staff, alumni and affiliates) and have a patent issued from the USPTO.
Universities and non-profit research institutes are invited to establish a local chapter of the NAI, to recognize and encourage their community of inventors.
Honoring Academic Invention
In universities and non-profit research institutes across the nation and around the world, great scientists, scholars and educators are teaching the next generation of researchers and inventors.
A researcher's contribution reaches the benchmark of inventorship as recognized by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office because its discovery had no significant prior art, was not obvious to someone else skilled in the field, and had a specific use. Although every invention and every inventor is unique, some things are common to all. It takes imagination and ingenuity to be an inventor.
The systematic application of organized knowledge and information can generate technology and produce creative solutions to existing problems. Inventors are the discoverers and creators of these solutions, and, as such, are key contributors to the advancement of technology. Protection of this intellectual property, through the patenting process, underpins the creation of new industries and employment.
Innovation, based on new inventions and technologies, has proven to be a key factor in the industrial and economic development of the world. The support, encouragement and development of technology and innovation are also fundamental to the success of a university.
The NAI serves a valuable role in the translation of science and technology within the university and non-profit research institute community, and for the benefit of society. For members, this organization can serve to encourage creative thinking and the spirit of innovation, promote and enhance the development and utilization of inventions, and provide advice and guidance to new and existing inventors in their work.
History of the NAI
The National Academy of Inventors® (NAI) was founded in 2010, in order to recognize investigators at universities and non-profit research institutes who translate their research findings into inventions that may benefit society.
To join the NAI, an inventor must be affiliated with a Member Institution and be a named inventor on one or more patents issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In addition to regular membership, honorary membership is recognized.
The NAI currently has more than 75 Charter Member Institutions, three international affiliates, and more than 2,000 individual academic inventor members.
The NAI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and edits the multidisciplinary journal Technology and Innovation – Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors®, published by Cognizant Communication Corporation (NY).
