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How very microsoft of them

Story: Microsoft sues Nook partners over Android-based UITotal Replies: 5
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herzeleid

Mar 22, 2011
3:54 PM EDT 		Time to look for prior art...
jacog

Mar 23, 2011
3:06 AM EDT 		In this case it should not be hard to find. But, doesn't this new "first to file" thing pretty much make it impossible to invalidate a patent? I need to read up I guess.
JaseP

Mar 23, 2011
10:22 AM EDT 		The first to file thing is a bill, not an Act of Congress. So, currently, there's no effect. When and if it's passed, it will not apply ex-post-facto, but for patents filed from the law's effective date. I believe it will also be gradual in its implementation. And, I don't think it removes prior art entirely, just weakens it substantially.
Sander_Marechal

Mar 25, 2011
3:59 AM EDT 		First-to-file still makes it possible to invalidate a patent through prior art. The only thing that changes is when two parties want a patent on the same thing. In the old situations the parties had to prove who invented it first. Now the first one to file the application gets it. For the rest, the same patent requirements still apply (novel, non-obvious, etcetera).

Well... "requirements" in quotes anyway. They're a joke in the US.
JaseP

Mar 25, 2011
9:45 AM EDT
Quoting: Well... "requirements" in quotes anyway. They're a joke in the US.


Unfortunately, no one finds that joke too funny.
phsolide

Mar 25, 2011
11:53 AM EDT 		First-to-file does detach a patent from whatever philosophical basis patents might have had.

If we're granting ownership of an idea to someone, the only real reason to grant that ownership is because of the unique and sacred moment of invention. Otherwise, there's nothing super special about an idea that makes it worthy of someone's ownership, it seems to me.

First-to-invent seems like the Right Way to decide in the case of granting ownership of an idea. First-to-file just seems like a way of making the paperwork easier in a system that's open to abuse, frankly.

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