The Practical Impact Of The America Invents Act On Research and Development In Industry

The America Invents Act (AIA) was signed into law by President Barack Obama on September 16, 2011 and became fully implemented on March 16, 2013.  The AIA represents the first major change to US Patent Law in about 60 years and has required the better part of the last three years to implement.  Now that the law has been enacted and the procedures have been implemented at the USPTO, this paper takes a look at the practical impact of these law changes on research and development in industry as well as how the old law will continue to be relevant.   Finally, certain advantages brought about by the new law are explored.  Topics covered include first-inventor-to-file, filing strategies, pre-issuance submissions, and post-issuance challenges.