"The measure would switch the United States from the "first-to-invent" system to the "first-inventor-to-file" system for patent applications. That change would put the U.S. in line with other industrialized countries."
I hope that does not mean there is no longer prior art?
What if I invent something and just publish.
Now somebody else files a patent application for this.
I was the first to invent, but the other person was the first to file.
Generally I think the way out of this mess it to start to publish every little invention (however obvious it might seem). Then hopefully over time there will be no more room for obvious patents.
First to file vs. first to invent are procedural requirements that do NOT, in any way, alter the standards for patentability. In other words, you still have to prove novelty, utility, nonobviousness, and sufficiency of disclosure of an invention falling within the scope of patentable subject matter.
This change just brings us more in line with other members to the Paris Convention/Patent Cooperation Treaty. It's important to note that their definitions of patentable subject matter may differ from ours.
Generally I think the way out of this mess it to start to publish every little invention (however obvious it might seem). Then hopefully over time there will be no more room for obvious patents.
There's actually an industry that does exactly that. You can pay a small fee to insert pretty much anything you want into a compendium that gets published periodically and put on file with the Library of Congress. And, big tech companies used to have their own disclosure journals for this purpose -- Xerox Disclosure Journal and IBM Technical Disclosure Journal come to mind.
I hope that does not mean there is no longer prior art? What if I invent something and just publish. Now somebody else files a patent application for this.
I was the first to invent, but the other person was the first to file.
Generally I think the way out of this mess it to start to publish every little invention (however obvious it might seem). Then hopefully over time there will be no more room for obvious patents.