What Are The Pros And Cons Of First-inventor-to-file (ftif) Concept In The America Invents Act?
The United States is unique in that it is the only country of its ilk with a first to invent patent system instead of a first to file system. A first to invent system gives the rights of the patent to the first person to conceive of an invention and then "reduce it to practice" by filing for patent protection. Other countries recognize the person who first files, with no consideration given to the person who first concieved of the invention.
The Patent Reform Act of 2007 is the most recent attempt to change the United States into a first to file system. The measure has been passed by the House of Representatives and is awaiting a vote in the Senate, and therefore the pros and cons of implementation deserve to be taken seriously.
Pros of the First to Invent System:
- It gives the reward to the actual inventor of an innovation, instead of to the person who may have just won the race to the patent office. Of course this provides greater incentive for the most diligent minds to invent and share with the world, knowing that there is a much lesser chance that their hard work will go unrewarded and uncredited.
Cons of the First to Invent System:
- The process to award the patent in the First to Invent system can become long and convoluted. As the process is legal in nature, it can also become quite expensive for someone wishing to protect their invention. If two people claiming to be an inventor both claim rights to a patent, the difficulty in proving the entity with the earlier date of conception can prove prohibitive to some. Especially in the case of a smaller party vs. a larger one, i.e. a corporation, many times the expense of trying to prove a case may simply lead the smaller entity to give up on the patent rights.
Pros of the First to File System:
- The First to File system eliminates all disputes between parties about date of conception. The entity that receives the patent is the first one to file, hands down.
Cons of the First to File System:
- The First to File system can wrongly attribute the rewards of an invention to someone who did not actually conceive of it. Inventors receive much less protection under the First to File system and must take great care to protect their inventions before public release.
The Patent Reform Act of 2007 is the most recent attempt to change the United States into a first to file system. The measure has been passed by the House of Representatives and is awaiting a vote in the Senate, and therefore the pros and cons of implementation deserve to be taken seriously.
Pros of the First to Invent System:
- It gives the reward to the actual inventor of an innovation, instead of to the person who may have just won the race to the patent office. Of course this provides greater incentive for the most diligent minds to invent and share with the world, knowing that there is a much lesser chance that their hard work will go unrewarded and uncredited.
Cons of the First to Invent System:
- The process to award the patent in the First to Invent system can become long and convoluted. As the process is legal in nature, it can also become quite expensive for someone wishing to protect their invention. If two people claiming to be an inventor both claim rights to a patent, the difficulty in proving the entity with the earlier date of conception can prove prohibitive to some. Especially in the case of a smaller party vs. a larger one, i.e. a corporation, many times the expense of trying to prove a case may simply lead the smaller entity to give up on the patent rights.
Pros of the First to File System:
- The First to File system eliminates all disputes between parties about date of conception. The entity that receives the patent is the first one to file, hands down.
Cons of the First to File System:
- The First to File system can wrongly attribute the rewards of an invention to someone who did not actually conceive of it. Inventors receive much less protection under the First to File system and must take great care to protect their inventions before public release.
