American Bar Association Urges the US to Adopt First-To-File Patent System

The 400,000-member American Bar Association (ABA) has urged Congress to reform US patent law to bring it into line with the rest of the world by adopting a "first-inventor-to-file" rule, instead of its current "first-to-invent" rule. In a statement prepared for delivery to a House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee (the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property), the Chair of the ABA's Section of Intellectual Property described the current American system as "unacceptably expensive, complicated and unpredictable", noting that adoption of the "first-inventor-to-file" system would be consistent with changes sought by the United States in discussion seeking greater global harmonization of patent law. For the text of the ABA's news release (dated April 19, 2005), see: http://www.abanet.org/media/releases/news041905.html For commentary on the proposals, visit: http://www.mbhb.com/documents/Publications/3/1/Chicago%20Daily%20Law%20Bulletin%20-%20Daniel%20Boehnen.doc Summary by: The Editor