Earlier today, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (“USPTO”) published the final rules of practice implementing the First-Inventor-To-File portion of the America Invents Act (“AIA”). The First-Inventor-To-File portion of the AIA will begin on March 16, 2013 and mark perhaps one of the most significant changes in the U.S. patent laws in the last decade.
After March 16, 2013, patents will be awarded to the first inventor to file a patent application at the USPTO, rather the first to invent. Although appearing quite drastic, the First-Inventor-To-File rule is a major step toward a harmonized patent system with international implications. Prior to the AIA, the USPTO was the only natoinal patent office that implemented a first-to-invent patent system. The long term goal and efforts stemming from the AIA and international patent harmonization include greater consistency in the prosecution and enforcement of patents in the United States.
The changes to implement the First-Inventor-To-File provisions can be found here.
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Earlier today, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (“USPTO”) published the final rules of practice implementing the First-Inventor-To-File portion of the America Invents Act (“AIA”). The First-Inventor-To-File portion of the AIA will begin on March 16, 2013 and mark perhaps one of the most significant changes in the U.S. patent laws in the last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t