[Fsfe-ie] US Congress to Overhaul Patent Law

Justin Mason jm at jmason.org
Wed Aug 24 20:14:24 CEST 2005


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Alex Macfie writes:
> On Aug 24, 2005, at 01:22, Justin Mason wrote:
> 
> > It's not *all* bad, though, in the US proposal.
> > On one hand, first-to-file is pretty absurd.
> 
> I don't understand what you've got against first-to-file. If you 
> believe patents are a nuisance, then first-to-file lowers the nuisance 
> factor.
> [Besides which it's also much more workable, less bureaucratic and less 
> open to manipulation than first-to-invent.]

I'm under the impression that first-to-file gives the ability for an
applicant to be issued a patent, even if there is prior art, as long as
the inventor of the prior art had not filed for a patent themselves.

This is in contrast to first-to-invent, where an inventor can be assured
that a patent cannot be issued on their invention to someone else, as long
as they can prove that they invented it first.

I may be wrong in that, though... ;)

- --j.
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