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.

FORBES: Inventors: Take Heed Of The Revised U.S. Patent Law

An outmoded patent application review process and a thicket of overbroad, overlapping software patents creates minefields for everyone from startups to major tech companies.

FORBES: Patent Trolls: The Innovation Hijackers

These days, budding inventors who struggle through the lengthy, legalistic procedure of filing a patent application usually find the process anything but inspiring.

ECONOMIST: Patent law: Going global | The

Apple's application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office describes a process for placing an order and then notifying customers when an order is ready to grab at a pick-up station.

FORBES: Magazine Article