In other words, the first inventor to file an application for an invention gets the patent, not the first person to invent something.
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The America Invents Act, signed into law in September, will transition the patent application process from the first-to-invent system, to the new first-to-file system.
Reform would bring the U.S. patent system in line with the rest of the world by granting patents on a "first-to-file" rather than a "first-to-invent" basis.
Under the pre-AIA first-to-invent rules, Company A can get the patent because its employee invented first.
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Patent applications filed before that date can still realize the benefits of the first-to-invent system.
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Among the proposed changes in both bills is a measure to convert the U.S. to a "first-to-file" system for granting patents (which most other countries use) rather than the "first-to-invent" system currently in place.
In part to bring the United States into closer alignment with the rest of the world, the AIA eliminates the first-to-invent system for U.S. patent applications with an effective filing date of March 16, 2013 or later.
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It was that very compulsion that inspired 16th century inventor William Lee to invent the first knitting machine.
In comparison, it took 15 years to invent the first polyethylene, which came out of the lab in 1933.
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In his 93 years he claimed over 180 patents (the most recent of which was filed on February 1), but his greatest achievement was to invent the first practical wireless television remote control.
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Having found little of the first three, he apparently thought it amusing to invent a few islands en route.
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Most important, without proper patent protection, biotech firms are unlikely to spend the huge sums needed to invent a drug in the first place, as European firms have shown.
The FAST system is the first step in an effort to use Xerox PARC's expertise in physics, engineering and computer science to invent and commercialize new technologies for biology and health care.
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