35 U.S.C. § 117 — Death or incapacity of inventor

This section lets someone other than the inventor apply for a patent in two situations. First, if the inventor has died, that inventor's "legal representative" may file the application. Second, if the inventor is under a "legal incapacity" - someone who has been found legally unable to manage their own affairs - that person's legal representative may file instead. The statute does not define "legal representative" or "legal incapacity" here, so the terms carry whatever meaning they have elsewhere in the law. Whoever files on the inventor's behalf must meet the exact same requirements and follow the exact same conditions that would apply if the inventor were filing the application in person. The law gives the representative no shortcuts and no extra hurdles - they simply stand in the inventor's place so the patent application can move forward.