WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is hosting “roadshow” events across the country in an effort to increase understanding of the America Invents Act.
The AIA, signed into law in 2011 and its central provisions put into effect in March 2013, switched the U.S. patent system from a “first to invent” to a “first inventor to file” system, eliminated interference proceedings and developed post-grant opposition.
The PTO began hosting roadshows Sept. 16. The public meetings, which will continue into October, serve as an opportunity for office subject matter experts and stakeholders to discuss the First Inventor to File, or FITF, provisions and updates since its implementation.
In particular, the office said it wants to “broaden” public knowledge of the FITF provisions and better explain the provisions’ administrative processes to aid inventors and their representatives in the filing and prosecuting of patent applications under the system.
At each roadshow, panelists discuss FITF statistics to date, the applicability of the FITF provisions on patent applications filed today, the FITF statutory framework and its exceptions, and AIA evidentiary declaration practice useful to invoke the exceptions.
The experts present a variety of sample scenarios to illustrate both the applicability of the FITF provisions as well as tips for prosecuting applications filed under the provisions.
The roadshows, which are free and open to the public, will run through Oct. 9 with stops in Concord, N.H., Madison, Wis., Dallas, Silicon Valley and Atlanta. Stops also will be made on PTO campuses in Alexandria, Va., and Denver.
Thursday’s roadshow in Denver will be webcast live through the PTO’s website.
For more information, click here.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at patents@legalnewsline.com.