An inventor is a person who creates or discovers new methods, means, or devices for performing a task. The word "inventor" comes form the latin verb invenire, invent-, to find.
Inventorship is a key determination in establishing patent rights. The system of patents was established by to encourage inventors by granting limited-term, limited monopoly on inventions determined to be sufficiently novel, non-obvious, and useful. In the U.S. the intellectual property clause of the Constitution permits (but does not mandate) laws to be passed establishing patent and other intellectual property rights.
The term may also refer to those who have been granted a patent (see inventor (patent)). Many things are however not patentable, or are not generally patented, and may nevertheless be considered the product of the work of an inventor. Examples include new methods or products of artistic expression or mathematics. As in the case of formal inventorship (under patent law), a key element is clearly expressible surprise caused by the invention to those knowledgeable in the domain of the invention upon revelation of the invention to them.
An invention is an object, process, or technique which displays an element of novelty. An invention may sometimes be based on earlier developments, collaborations or ideas, and the process of invention requires at least the awareness that an existing concept or method can be modified or transformed into an invention. However, some inventions also represent a radical breakthrough in science or technology which extends the boundaries of human knowledge. Legal protection can sometimes be granted to an invention by way of a patent.
Although a new or useful object or method may be developed to fulfill a specific purpose, the original idea may never be fully realised as a working invention, perhaps because the concept is in some way unrealistic or impractical.
A "castle in the air" or a "pie in the sky" (or "castles in Spain") may refer to a creative idea which does not reach fruition due to practical considerations. The history of invention is full of such castles, because inventions are not necessarily invented in the order that is most useful; for example, the design of the parachute was worked out before the invention of powered flight. Other inventions simply solve problems for which there is no economic incentive to provide a solution.
On the other hand, any barriers to implementation may simply be an issue of engineering or technology which can be overcome in time with scientific advances. History is also replete with examples of ideas which have taken some time to reach physical reality, as demonstrated by various ideas originally attributed to Leonardo da Vinci which are now expressed in everyday physical form.
