Gene Quinn argues that First U.S. Patent Laws Were First to File, Not First to Invent. I’m not 100% sure I buy his argument, but it seems reasonable enough. The reason this comes up is the US has always had a first to invent system, unlike other countries which are mostly first to file (unless Quinn is right in which case the US had a first to file system briefly, at the beginning), and the America Invents Act is poised to change to a first to file system (Patent Reform is Here! O Joy!). Yet another reason to be skeptical of claims that the current patent reform is radical and significant.
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