AIA: Redefining What is "Prior Art"
Under the America Invents Act (AIA), any evidence showing that an invention was "in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public" can be used as prior art, even if that evidence relates to events that take place outside the U.S. Thus, companies and inventors who publicly use or offer their inventions for sale outside the U.S. could be barred from obtaining patent protection for those inventions in the U.S., depending on the circumstances. That change in the patent law is intended to harmonizes U.S. law with the patent laws of other countries. As discussed below, the AIA make many other changes to the definition of "prior art."
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Nearly 30 years ago, Congress created the administrative reexamination process. It was intended to be used by the Patent Office to review the validity of already-issued patents on the request of either the patent holder or a third party challenger. It was expected that reexamination would serve as an effective and efficient alternative to often costly and protracted district court litigation.
Designed to limit unnecessary and counterproductive litigation costs, the America Invents Act (AIA) was signed into law by President Obama on September 6, 2011, to the praises of many in industry. The law changes how and where patent lawsuits can be filed, eliminates certain defenses to patent infringement allegations, and effectively eliminates certain private rights of action. Even now, parties whose patent enforcement cases are pending in federal courts around the country or are about to be filed, are having to step back and rethink their litigation strategies. One of the goals of the AIA is to reduce the amount of litigation in the United States. .png)
The Maryland State Bar Association's (MSBA) 20,000 attorneys and judges now have a new tool for accessing rules of evidence, rules of professional conduct, and codes of civility right on their iPhone, iPad, Android, and Blackberry device. The .gif)
The America Invents Act includes provisions for prioritized patent application examination that emulate the requirements of the Patent Office's "Track I" final rule. 76 FR 185 (September 23, 2011). Under the system, a patent applicant pays an extra $4,800 fee ($2,400 for small entities) to have his or her patent application undergo accelerated examination.
