Obama To Sign 'America Invents Act of 2011' Today

ideonexus writes "President Obama will be signing the 'America Invents Act of 2011' into law today at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va. The bill will transition America from a 'first-to-invent" to a 'first-to-file" country, but critics argue that the bill fails to address the more important problem that 'nobody can tell what a patent covers until they've spent months or years working it out, often in the courts.'"

Comments

Re:America Invents?

[GameboyRMH]

Like the PATRIOT act. The title is an ironic opposite of what the act actually does.

I don't get "First to File"

[gameboyhippo]

How about first to do both. You would have to have an invention before you can file. Otherwise, I'm patenting time travel.

America

[Dunbal]

Invents a better way to screw Americans.

You still have to have invented it

[tepples]

The old way: You have to have invented the product or process and reduced it to practice, you have to file a patent application, and you have to have invented before other inventors.
The new way: You have to have invented the product or process and reduced it to practice, you have to file a patent application, and you have to have filed before other inventors.

The purported advantage of the new way is that it's a lot easier to prove having filed first than to prove having reduced it to practice first.

Re:America Invents?

[Enry]

Clear Skies Act, No Child Left Behind...

Re:America Invents?

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

First to file.

Now.

Raise filing fees and barriers to protect incumbent interests.

Why not? In Amerika today, money has already become the right to vote, and the right to speech.

Honesty in naming

[roman_mir]

Again, I just posted on this in the previous story.

HONESTY IN NAMING. Give that bill's number, make them read it. Of-course this will do nothing for Obama's reelection, but this "America Invents Act" will do nothing for inventions in America.

There are 152 PAGES in that bill. (PDF warning)

152 pages. You'd think to have America "inventing" you wouldn't need that. What you'd need is to stop punishing people for investments with inflation, taxes, regulations and insane spending, like that on wars. How about ABOLISHING the patent system altogether and abolishing all patents and refunding those that are pending by the way? Having a freer society, so that people could ACTUALLY INVENT AND INNOVATE without FEAR of being SUED?

You think they'll stop wars in that bill? You think they'll stop inflation and encourage underconsumption, savings and investments?

Please. It's about dates of filing, it's about law suits. It's about more government protections given to large corporations. It's about lawyers.

The only 'innovation' that will be promoted by this bill will be lawyer innovation, innovative ways to file MORE LAWSUITS.

That's all this is going to do - more lawsuits and actually less innovation and fewer inventions, as always the exact opposite of what the bill is named.

so begins the whining....

[Lumpy]

The defense against it is simple. Do your research and publish it ALL to the public. Release it and get it out there Creative commons licensing eliminates the possibility of your idea being patented and stolen from you.

Stop being selfish asshats. Invent and release it to the wild.

a.k.a "The Lawyer Bailout Bill"

[sanzibar]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/business/patent-bill-could-save-a-law-firm-millions.html?_r=2&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y smoke and mirrors....

First-to-file doesn't affect novelty at all

[tepples]

First-to-file doesn't affect novelty at all. Published prior art that disqualifies an invention under first-to-invent also disqualifies an invention under first-to-file. Furthermore, I've read that the Act makes it easier to challenge a questionable patent, so you'll have an easier time of getting your open source project into the USPTO examiner's hands.

Re:America Invents?

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

He ALSO signed a continuation of Emergency Powers.

How Nice.

Funny this little occurrence receives so little attention, when, of these invoked powers, The Washington Times wrote on September 18, 2001:

Simply by proclaiming a national emergency on Friday, President Bush activated some 500 dormant legal provisions, including those allowing him to impose censorship and martial law.

I guess there wasn't enough NewSpeak in that article for the WT to preserve it from their Memory Hole. Here it is on the Wayback:
http://web.archive.org/web/20010918184425/www.washtimes.com/national/20010918-1136.htm

Now, back to Barry's continuation of the legacy:

Notice of September 9, 2011

Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Certain Terrorist Attacks

Consistent with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1622(d), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency previously declared on September 14, 2001, in Proclamation 7463, with respect to the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States.

Because the terrorist threat continues, the national emergency declared on September 14, 2001, and the powers and authorities adopted to deal with that emergency must continue in effect beyond September 14, 2011. Therefore, I am continuing in effect for an additional year the national emergency that was declared on September 14, 2001, with respect to the terrorist threat.

This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

(Signed, BO)

Re:America Invents?

[Anonymous Coward]

What! You must be from the Obama whitewash department. Even NYTimes called him out on it dumbass.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/business/patent-bill-could-save-a-law-firm-millions.html?_r=2&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y