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America Invents Act (AIA) introduces some fundamental changes in the United States Patent Laws.
According to the new Patent Laws, the traditional "First-to-invent" approach is changed to "First-to-file". That is, the first to file a patent application with the Patents Office is entitled to a patent grant.
In the past, inventors used to keep records of their inventions, detailing the date of the invention, proof of
their priority rights. No more. This new approach harmonizes the US Patent Laws with the rest of the world, which uses the "First-to-file" approach.
What happens if, say, inventor A was the first to file, but inventor B was the first to complete examination? The approach
at the USPTO is that the first to successfully complete examination will be granted a patent, either A or B. A patent will not be denied to an inventor, because someone else maybe, sometime, will also pass the examination.
Of course, if and when A passes the examination, he may claim his priority rights. His task may be difficult, for it is more difficult to
invalidate a patent after grant.
The first to file inventor A could have prevented this situation were he to vigorously pursue examination, or ask for accelerated
examination, or oppose the grant of a patent to inventor B.
There are now two venues for challenging granted patents: Inter Partes Review (IPR) and Post-Grant Review (PGR).
PGR petitions may be only filed within a period of nine months from patent grant.
For a full text of the United States Patent Laws, see
United States Patent Laws (pdf)
(Source: USPTO)
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In the United States there are three types of patents:
Utility patent, which is akin a patent in Israel. It may protect an apparatus, a method, etc.
Design patent, which is akin a design in Israel. It protects the appearance of a product rather than
its functionality.
Plant patent, which protects plants, such as flowers.
Utility or plant patents may be filed either as Provisional or nonprovisional applications. Provisional
applications become automatically abandoned a year from filing, whereas nonprovisional applications may progress to
patent grant, if the requirements in the Patent Laws are met.
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See attached a list of costs for patenting, detailing costs for standard entity as well as for small and micro entities. For the most up-to-date fees, see list at the USPTO.
In addition to these Gov't fees, there are the service fees for the patent attorney.
Gov't fees for filing a patent application, search, examination, extension of time, revival of abandoned applications, etc. (pdf)
(Source: USPTO)
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America Invents Act (AIA) introduces a new type of entity, the Micro Entity.
In the past there were two paths for registering patents, the regular entity paying full Gov't fees and small entity, who paid 50% of the fees.
The new type of entity, the Micro entity, pays 25% of the standard fees.
Sometimes the status of an applicant changes, for example an inventor defined as Small entity or Micro entity, who confers rights in
the patent application to a large firm, which is not entitled to this status. The inventor's duty is to report this change to the USPTO and pay the difference in fees.
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