News

Certain provisions of the America Invents Act, which changes the first-to-invent principle of patent law that has existed in the United States for more than two hundred years, began taking effect on September 16, 2011. Other provisions took effect on September 11, 2012, and perhaps the most significant change will take effect on March 16, 2013, when the United States switches over from the first-to-invent system to the first-inventor-to-file system.

For your reference, we have prepared overviews of the some of the specific aspects of the law:

• First to File
• Third Party Submission of Prior Art Pending Applications
• Post-Grant Review
• Inter Partes Review
• Ex Parte Reexamination
• Supplemental Examination
• Impact on Intellectual Property Litigation