First to file and first to invent: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:44, 22 February 2023

Revision as of 21:12, 24 February 2023

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{{patent law}}

'''First to file''' (FTF) and '''first to invent''' (FTI) are legal concepts that define who has the right to the grant of a [[patent]] for an [[invention]]. Since 2013-03-16 March 2013, after the USA abandoned its "first to invent/document" system, all countries operate under "first-to-file" patent priority requirement.<ref>{{cite news |title=Patent Reform Refuses To Die, Congress Keeps Cashing In |author=Zach Carter |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/06/patent-reform-drags-on_n_951128.html |newspaper=The Huffington Post |date=11 June 2011 |access-date=31 July 2013}}</ref>

There is an important difference between the strict nature of the FTF under the [[European Patent Office|European Patent Office (EPO)]] and the FITF (First inventor to file) system of the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office|United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)]]. The USPTO FITF system<ref name=usptopressrel>[http://www.patentdocs.org/2013/02/uspto-issues-first-inventor-to-file-examination-guidelines-and-final-rule.html Zuhn: "USPTO Issues First-Inventor-to-File Examination Guidelines and Final Rule"]</ref> affords early disclosers some "grace" time before they need to file a patent,<ref name=kravets/> whereas the EPO does not recognise any grace period, so early disclosure under the FITF provisions is an absolute bar to later EPO patent.