Re: How should patents work?
This fellow came up with the idea and Apple took him up on it. The idea belongs to Apple.
Is this enough to be listed on the patent?
It should be. He may have signed over all rights to inventions to Apple as part of his contract, but if he (as an Apple employee, alone or in a group) invented something that was patented by Apple, his name should be on the patent as a (co-)inventor. I wonder if Apple (like other companies where I've worked) has any internal "possible patents" tool? That's usually a good way of starting the process and getting your name associated with it, the idea goes to the patent lawyers who decide if it's worth following up on it.
Getting a name added to a patent later, though, is much harder. IANAL either, but I could see it being argued that a disagreement over who invented something could actually invalidate the patent.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
