New US patent system. Who first got up - that and sneakers

Starting March 16, 2013, the United States switched to a new patent registration system. The system "first invented - get a patent" has changed to "first filed an application - get a patent . "

It turns out, now it does not matter that someone came up with your idea a week earlier and even managed to make a document confirming this. If your application came to the bureau first - your patent.

This move can improve relations with the international community. For example, on the eve of the magazine Wired wrote that people who supported the law argued this approach by saying that the system would speed up the review process and, accordingly, reduce the number of debris that is growing every year and causing serious harm to the global economy. (as of 2009, there were 700'000 unexamined applications in the USA and this number is increasing every year according to the snowball principle [1] - comment of the translator ).
')
Also in the document “Leahy-Smith America Invents Act” a new category appeared - “micro essence” , which allows small businesses to receive a 75% discount on the patent registration fee.

The effect of such a radical change in the patent registration system will not be immediately noticeable. The author of the news notes that this approach is fairly fair in relation to patent trolls, that is, now they will have to either register their patent immediately, or abandon intellectual property. For patent racketeering, it will now be difficult to find an excuse - a huge discount has already been made for small companies.