President Obama signed the America Invents Act in a public ceremony on September 16, 2011. The Bill makes significant changes to US Patent Law, including bringing the US into conformity with the rest of the world by granting patents to the first-to-file (i.e. first inventor to file) rather than the first-to invent. Our previous articles noted this and other issues addressed by the Bill.

The White House announcement about the signing claims that the new law will, among other things:

1. Offer a fast track option for certain patents to be approved within one year vs. the standard three year waiting period;

2. Reduce the patent application backlog (currently at 680,000) because of additional resources;

3. Provide an expedited method of resolving patent challenges in-house, leading to increased patent quality; and

4. Enhance the ability of American inventors to protect their IP abroad, due to increased efficiency and predictability as a result of the US harmonizing its patent law with that of other nations.

It will be interesting to see if the America Invents Act lives up to its billing and achieves these worthwhile goals.

For more information on the America Invents Act and its impact on your business, contact Schein & Cai.

Schein & Cai was recently named one of the Top US Patent Firm for 2010 by Intellectual Property Today®. We assist companies in Silicon Valley and beyond, including San Jose, Santa Clara, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Morgan Hill, Oakland, San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, South San Francisco, Daly City,Cupertino, Saratoga and Emeryville.

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