Refers to a person who creates or devises something new, especially a device, process, or method.
エジソンは電球の発明者として知られている。
Edison is known as the inventor of the light bulb.
彼女は若い発明者で、すでにいくつかの特許を持っている。
She is a young inventor who already holds several patents.
発見者 is someone who finds something that already existed (like a new species or place), while 発明者 is someone who creates something entirely new (like an invention).
Compound of 発明 (invention) + 者 (person). The word follows a common pattern for agent nouns in Japanese.