The first to file policy is a patent law doctrine used by most of the world, with the notable exception of the United States. The Philippines recently changed its patent system from a first to invent to a first to file system.
How it works
Based on this policy, even if inventor Alice invented the same things as Bob, if Bob's patent application reached the patent office earlier, Bob shall be awarded a patent.
There is a broad debate over the relative merits of the first-to-file and the first-to-invent system. As opposed to the first-to-file, the first-to-invent system gives the patent right to the party proven to first come up with the invention, regardless of the date of filing of the patent application. The opponents of the first-to-invent system note that it is procedurally difficult to show the invention date, short of going tediously through the pages of the parties' lab notebooks. It is equally nebulous to pinpoint the date of invention, and parties may disagree whether it should be the date when the inventor first put the ideas on the drawing board, generated a prototype, or sucessfully obtained a lab result. The first-to-file system may address these challenges by injecting a measure of procedural certainty.
The critics of the first-to-file system, meanwhile, argue that it will encourage hastily devised invention by parties anxious to be the first ones to file their application to the patent office. The first-to-invent system will allow parties to concentrate on their inventive work without worrying about beating their competitors in legal procedures.
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