First to invent system

USA operate a first to invent system rather than the first to file system operated in other countries. 

The US first to invent system allows a person to obtain a US patent if he can prove that he made the invention prior to another party who filed an earlier patent application for the same invention. Proof of invention can involve submission of lab note books, making diligent record keeping extremely important to preserve US patent rights. 

Only one party can be awarded a patent to an invention (die same invention cannot be patented twice), and die prize usually goes to the party that can establish that it was die first party to invent the contested subject matter. This is a consequence of die United States being a first-to-invent country (more will be explained regarding this facet of U.S. law in Chapter 3). The first-to-invent system makes a provisional patent application less critical than if die United States were a first-to-file country like the rest of the world. However, filing a provisional patent application in the United States is still advantageous because any... 

With the first-to-invent system in the United States, it is sometimes necessary to determine which of two or more inventors (or groups of inventors) first invented the subject matter that is claimed in common by the parties. Interferences are the proceedings within the PTO for making such determinations. These proceedings, which are overseen by senior examiners within the PTO, are ultimately decided by the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences in the PTO. The party who first conceives an invention and first reduces it to practice will normally be awarded priority and will be awarded the U.S. patent (142). This is not the case, however, if another party, who reduced the invention to practice at a later date, can prove that he or she was the first to conceive the invention and proceeded diligently to reduce it to practice from a time before the other party s date of conception. The diligence of the first to reduce the invention to practice is normally immaterial in the priority contest. 

Another major difference, between the US patent system and others that exist as of the date of this writing (November, 2007) has to do with who should be granted a patent, if more than one applicant should claim the same invention. Should priority be given to the party that files the application first (first to file) or to the party that actually came up with the idea and reduced it to practice first (first to invent) The first to invent system currently applies in the US and the Philippines, while first to file reigns everywhere else. 

In the first to file system, the first person who makes a patent application at the Patent Office wins the race for patent rights regardless of whether or not he was the first to make the invention covered by the application. 

The first to invent a usable system was Jolm Dalton, an English scientist. The invention was almost forced upon him. 

Unlike the rest of the world, US patent practice is a first-to-invent rather than first-to-file system, the argument being that the Constitutional basis for the patent system was to secure rights for inventors not for hasty filers. This occasionally leads to a quasi-judicial proceeding known as an interference. 

First-to-File versus First-to-Invent. The United States applies a first-to-invent patent system, which means that if two different patent applications describe the same invention, the patent right will be issued to the invention that can be proven to have been invented first [84]. By contrast, the patent law of Canada, the EPO, and Japan, impose a first-to-file system, meaning that if two patent applications for the same invention are filed, the patent right will be granted to the applicant who filed an application at the earliest date [85], which is true even if the two identical inventions were arrived at independently. For this reason, first-to-file systems are often referred to as creating a high stakes race [86]. 

Mossinghoff G (2005). Small Entities and the First to Invent Patent System An Empirical Analysis. Washington Legal Foundation. Available http //www.wlf.org/ upload/MossinghoffWP.pdf. Accessed 20 July 2006. 

For a good discussion of the merits and demerits of first to file versus first to invent, see A Patent System for the 21st Century , Merrill, S.A., Levin, R.C., Myers, M.B., Eds. (Washington, DC, National Academies Press, 2004). Available at www.nap.edu/html/patentsystem/0309089107.pdf. 

Unlike the rest of the world, US patent practice is a first-to-invent rather than first-to-file system. 

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The final generic difficulty that end-to-end systems face involves second-generation inventions. In conventional patent systems, improved products command a higher price and earn more revenues. To share in these revenues, first-generation patent owners must grant licenses that permit improved products to appear on the market. 

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