Nimoy did not invent the Vulcan salute, he saw the hand sign being used in a Synagogue while praying and adopted it, he DID however invent the neck pinch as the thought the character needed something more elegant than just smashing someone in the face.
Leonard Nimoy’s dad was a barber, and in an interview, the actor shared the fact that his father had a picture of him in character as Spock with his distinctive haircut, and many kids would go to him to get their hair cut with the “Spock cut.”
Nimoy did not invent the Vulcan salute, he saw the hand sign being used in a Synagogue while praying and adopted it, he DID however invent the neck pinch as the thought the character needed something more elegant than just smashing someone in the face.
Of course, this hand gesture means "read between the lines"...
He came up with it for the character. He's the reason it's in the show. That's all that anyone needs to know. Pointy ears weren't a new thing, either.