Patent reform act stirs mixed emotions in science circles

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Senate on Thursday unanimously approved (by a vote of 89-9) the America Invents Act. The Act is being hailed as a substantial overhaul of the U.S. patent system. The America Invents Act changes the way one can obtain patents to a new "first to file” system replacing the old "first to invent" system. The move is seen as a way to curtail wasteful court disputes where warring parties fight over who invented what first. The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, as it is formally called, is being championed as the answer to what was wrong, for decades, in the patent process.

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