13 September 2011
The New York Times reported last week that the US Senate has passed a bill to bring about a suite of changes to the American patent system. Known as the America Invents Act, the bill was passed by the Senate 89 votes to 9 without any furtehr amendments by the Senate. President Obama is scheduled to sign this bill into law on Friday, US time.
The two major aims of the bill are to introduce a “first to file” system and to give the USPTO greater access to funding to revamp systems and clear a backlog of patent applications. More information on the bill can be found in our previous post regarding the passage of the bill through the US House of Representatives here.
