Written by ETCentric contributors Walt Klappert and Mike Nichols
Ironically during these years when Congress is blamed for doing little, the legislators passed the most significant changes in patenting since 1952. The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is going into effect in stages with some aspects currently in place.
One big change however, happens after March 16, 2013 — not long from now — when the United States goes from a first-to-invent country to a first-to-file country.
Opponents to this change argue a first-to-file system gives an advantage to large companies over small companies. They point out with the first-to-invent policy a small start-up company might have nurtured a new idea while they raised the money they needed to pursue a patent.
When first-to-file is in place these small companies may be in a race to the patent office in the hope of beating out bigger better-funded organizations even if the big company’s employees come up with the start-up’s idea later than the start-up did. For good or bad, this change puts the United States more in synch with the rest of the world.
On the other hand, the AIA cuts some patent-related fees by 75 percent for small entities, individuals and universities. Also, some new programs are going into place to move patent applications through the process faster, albeit by paying more.
Other changes are happening, too. For example in appeals, the AIA affects people trying to get intellectual property. In reexaminations, the law affects people trying to fight patents.
In the end, how the entire act will help or hinder entertainment technology is hard to predict, but certainly worth discussing. The good and the bad of the bill may depend on the size or type of company you work in, or for that matter if you work alone, or for a university. But if patents affect your business, it is pretty certain the America Invents Act will affect what you do soon.
Written by ETCentric contributors Walt Klappert and Mike Nichols