Yesterday, the Senate passed the America Invents Act of 2011
(H.R. 1249), the most significant legislative change in patent law
in nearly 60 years. The President is expected to sign the bill into
law within the next week or two. The Act harmonizes U.S. patent law
with other countries by switching the U.S. patent system from a
"first-to-invent" to a "first inventor-to-file"
system. Under existing U.S. law, when a dispute arises as to which
of two parties invented an invention, the patent is awarded to the
party who first invented the invention. Under the new law,
the patent would be awarded to the party who first filed
their patent application with the Patent Office.
The Act also provides a new robust post-grant review procedure.
During the first 9 months after issuance of a patent, a third party
can petition for cancellation of a patent claim based on
any ground for invalidity. Presently, third parties can
only request reexamination of a patent based on prior art, and
