Reporter Sheri Qualters asked several patent practitioners to come up with a list of things lawyers should know about the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, enacted on Sept. 16, 2011. Most notably, the patent reform law moves the United States from a first-to-invent to a first-to-file patent system. Here, in no particular order, are the top 10.
1. FILE EARLY AND OFTEN
When first-to-file takes effect on March 16, 2013, it’s critical for inventors to race to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office with high-quality provisional filings, which can be turned into full applications within a year.
