Laboring Through The America Invents Act

Are your employment policies ready for changes in the Patent Law?

The America Invents Act (the "AIA") is the most significant change to patent law in over 50 years. Effective September 2012, provisions will go into effect that could change your employment policies.

Some background

All patent applications must include a declaration from the inventor in which the inventor swears that he believes s/he is the first individual to invent the invention and that s/he understands s/he has a duty of candor to disclose relevant prior technologies to the Patent Office. Occasionally, these declarations may be somewhat difficult for a company to acquire from the inventor(s). Management and in-house legal counsel can spend time hounding the inventor, and end up paying unnecessary government extension or petition fees before the documents are signed. Consider the following hypothetical sequence of events.