Speaking about the resurrected Patent Reform Act in "Patent Reform Bill (Yet Again) Makes It to Senate Floor" (Wall Street Journal Law Blog, February 8, 2011), Alexander Poltorak comments that changing from a "first-to-invent" standard to a "first-to-file" standard would be harmful for small inventors and have a negative effect on patent quality.
Such a change would “create a race to the patent office and put small inventors at a disadvantage," Dr. Poltorak said."It is going to create very immature, raw patent applications because people are going to be in a rush to file them without due experimentation and working prototypes.”