U.S. Congress takes patent reform on the way

U.S. Congress takes patent reform on the way

The U.S. Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly a draft "Invents America Act," approved the amendment of the Patent Law of the House of Representatives. The long-fought project can therefore occur after the signature of U.S. President Barack Obama, this has already been assured in force. This is the first comprehensive amendment of the U.S. patent law for 60 years.

Numerous previous attempts to broader reform took place in the past six years due to violent protests from many sides sands. Especially pharmaceutical companies and associations of the Professional Inventors Alliance inventors as opposed major changes to the patent system and were able to prevail with their resistance against mostly reformist sectors such as high-tech industry.

The result is a compromise on the lowest common denominator. In essence, bringing the law, for the 89 senators voted in nine votes against the move to the worldwide practice of "first to file" with them. For the grant of a patent, therefore the timing is critical to an application is received by the Patent Office. So far in the U.S., the decisive moment of the present invention ("First to Invent"). Even against these changes turned the representatives of inventors and startups who see themselves falling behind. Most interested in business and politics but it was important to end the exceptionalism of the U.S. patent system.