The 1967 Patent Law Debate: First-to-Invent vs. First-to-File

United States patent law has traditionally been based on the proposition that the first inventor, not the first person to file a patent application, is the only person entitled to a patent. Nevertheless, the President's Commission on the Patent System has proposed that patent rights be awarded...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Duke law journal 1967-10, Vol.1967 (5), p.923-942
Main Author: Frost, George E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Grace period
Inventions
Inventors
Monopoly
Patent applications
Patent infringement
Patent law
Prior art
Statutory law
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:United States patent law has traditionally been based on the proposition that the first inventor, not the first person to file a patent application, is the only person entitled to a patent. Nevertheless, the President's Commission on the Patent System has proposed that patent rights be awarded on a first-to-file basis, and this recommendation is now embodied in bills before Congress. The author urges that the conclusion that a pure first-to-file system would be better for the United States should not be too hastily drawn. He reveals that the present United States patent system is neither purely a first-to-invent nor first-to-file system, but a hybrid system containing many features of both that gives a great advantage to the first person to file a patent application while also retaining important aspects of a first-to-invent system.
ISSN:0012-7086
DOI:10.2307/1371351