Patent applicants often name someone as an inventor who isn't - or they may fail to name someone who is. Some companies, as a matter of policy, list the CEO as an inventor in all their patents "out of respect." Sometimes colleagues are named because they will be rewarded monetarily for patents where they are listed as inventors. And conversely, actual inventors may be omitted, either accidentally or on purpose. When that happens, it can be hard to enforce patent rights. © 2009 IEEE.