Article by Jason A. Bernstein, Scott W. Creasman, John W. Harbin, Hilary Harp, Todd E. Jones, Ryan T. Pumpian, Charles L. Warner, James Remenick and Olivia Luk
On June 8, 2005, several U.S. Congressmen introduced a patent reform bill (H.R. 2795) in theHouse of Representatives. The bill proposes sweeping and controversial changes to the existing U.S. Patent Act. In fact, the bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), calls the proposed bill "the most comprehensive change to U.S. patent law since Congress passed the 1952 Patent Act." The key changes proposed in the legislation are:
- Awarding the first inventor to file a patent application priority in obtaining patent rights in the invention, as opposed to the current law that gives those rights to the first inventor to invent, whether or not he or she is the first to file an application. This proposed change would bring the U.S. more in line with the law of the rest of the world and is intended to provide certainty to the
