Patent Filing Deadline Nears

  • Posted on: 8 March 2013
  • By: Editor
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File Your Application before the 16th

Another reform of US Patent Laws, provided under another meaningless catchy name - AMERICA INVENTS ACT – which is designed to make you think your unlimited term congressman actually did something good for America, goes into full effect on March 16th.  The Patent Office, affectionately known as the “No Patent Office” by thousands of patent attorneys, will be raising the bar for examination of all patents filed after that date.  Essentially, your application filed after the 15th will be reviewed against all of the world’s patents and publications, regardless of what language it’s written in or what library that publication is hiding in.  As a result, expect patents to be even more difficult to obtain in the future.  A major change in the law is that the United States will join the rest of the world in becoming a “First to File” nation, giving patent rights to the first to file the invention, rather than to the first true inventor. 

To be helpful, the USPTO intended to have a public forum on the changes on March 8th.  That would have been nice, since that was before the deadline.   As only your government can do, that got moved to the 15th, a day that every patent attorney with a client will be frantically writing the last patent they can file under the old rule.  I predict that on March 15th there will be a record number of applications filed.  Under the First to File Rule, you need to make changes to your patent management practice, including at least:

1) Don’t sleep on your company inventions, file them as soon as possible, and

2) Never disclose your company invention to anyone other than your Patent Attorney.

There are many other changes to the law, and this is a short summary of just two points.  Call Scheef and Stone, LLP (214-706-4201) in Dallas, Texas if you have any questions about the America Invents Act, or if you want to get that great idea filed before the deadline.  Don’t wait another day, because it takes time to write these things.  Get in line immediately.  If you waited this long, you better have some drawings ready to go as well.