Suffern, NY - August 25, 2008 - Alexander Poltorak, Chairman and CEO of General Patent Corporation, told the National Association of Patent Practitioners recently that a First-to-Invent vs. First-to-File debate cannot be considered outside of the context of the complete patent reform proposal.
"In a fair and balanced patent reform, goals of patent law harmonization would be balanced with the interests and concerns of universities, small businesses and independent inventors," Poltorak said in a July 2008 presentation at the group's annual meeting in Alexandria, VA.
The U.S. patent system is the only one in the world based on the First-to-Invent regime. This means that that the inventor who is the first to conceive of an invention is considered the first inventor and is able to obtain a patent -- even if another inventor files a patent application for that invention first, so long as the first inventor was diligent in reducing the invention to practice and did not abandon or conceal it. In the rest of the world, the First-to-File system is the norm.
Dr. Poltorak discussed the differences between the two systems, including their respective advantages and disadvantages.
To view a PDF version of the PowerPoint file used in the presentation, please click the link below.