[LINK] First to File - Patent Changes USPTO Regs - Not Good...

[Tom Koltai]

Crazy Stupid Idiotic commercialisation at all costs - destroying our
future economy.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/24/technology/patent_reform_bill/
Quote/
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Patent reform cleared another major hurdle on
Thursday, when the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to
approve a bill that would fundamentally change the way the government
treats intellectual property.

The America Invents Act passed with a vote of 304-117, after a similar
bill was approved 95-5 in the Senate in March. 

At the core of both bills is a transition of the U.S. patent law from a
"first to invent" to a "first to file" system
<http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/30/technology/patent_reform/index.htm?iid=
EL> . That would give the patent to the first applicant, rather than the
first inventor. It's the standard most of the rest of the world uses,
since it prevents inventors from coming out of the woodwork and and
laying claim to a patent.

The bills also have provisions that attempt to keep patent battles out
of the courts, and they allow the U.S. Patent and Trade Office to set
and potentially keep its own fees. Currently, Congress sets and collects
the fees, and allocates a set amount of funding to the office -- which
says it is woefully under-funded. 

President Obama has pledged that he would sign a patent reform bill once
it reaches his desk. When passed, the legislation would offer the first
significant change to the U.S. patent system since 1952.

Before that can happen, however, the House and Senate need to conference
together to iron out differences between the bills. Then each chamber
must vote on the single, revised bill. Though the bills are extremely
similar, the one major difference is how the Patent Office gets access
to the fees it collects.

The Senate bill allows the Patent Office to keep all of the fees. The
House bill, however, would appropriate an amount of money to the Patent
Office. Any fees that it collects in excess of that amount would be
placed into escrow. The Patent Office would then need to appeal to
Congress to release those funds, allowing Congress to maintain a certain
level of oversight.

There is no timetable on when the conference between the two chambers
will take place. With an important -- and extremely contentious -- debt
ceiling negotiation currently taking place in Congress, the meeting on
patent reform will likely be delayed.

Still, key supporters were encouraged.

"The effort to reform our nation's patent laws began a decade ago, and
House passage ... brings patent reform a significant step closer to
becoming law," David Kappos, director of the Patent Office, said in a
written statement. "This bi-partisan legislation will transform our
patent system, enhance our nation's competitiveness and promote economic
growth and job creation."

Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, called the legislation "commonsense." He co-sponsored the
bill with Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Lamar
Smith. 

"Just as the Senate did when it passed the America Invents Act in a
significant 95-5 vote, we should come together and approve this bill
once again," he said. "America is the global leader in invention and
innovation. If we are to maintain that position, we must have a system
that competes in the global marketplace."

The bill is not without its opponents. Small business advocates argue
the bill would harm independent inventors. 

They say it would force inventors to race to the patent office to beat
mega corporations -- which have significantly more legal and R&D muscle
-- to the punch. Currently, inventors are shielded by the first to
invent rule, which lets them disclose their inventions to potential
investors without fearing the consequences if one of them spills the
beans. 
/Quote


What a crock of claptrap.
What this does do is favour the wealthy that can afford to file
intertnational patents and disadvantages the little inventor that needs
to raise money before he can file his patent.

This concept just set back inventiveness by at least 20 years by
allowing competing interests to create products BEFORE the inventors can
get funding.

STUPID STUPID STUPID.