Small Tradeshow Budget and Booth, Big Impact: 4 Ways to Improve ROI
In the whirlwind of a large-scale trade show, a 10×10 booth can easily fade into the background. These compact booths often get overlooked and lost...
1 min read
What's the impact of Leahy-Smith America Invents Act on the Patent Filing Process?
The most talked-about change to US patent law in decades, the America Invents Act, is coming next month, and is spurring a flurry of last minute activity. The coming change to first-to-file brings us to equal footing with the rest of the world, where for years, under the first-to-invent law, large American companies for sure had an advantage.
We believe that for many small companies who would struggle with the resources to defend a case, the true impact of the change is minimal. It can make all the difference, though, in high activity areas of innovation.
Under the first-to-invent law today, a company can swear behind a reference, for example, prove it's your invention by using a dated notebook as evidence, even if a publication exists prior to filing.
Those who file by March 16 will be held to this law. After March 16, a lot of new artwork will be available, increasing the 'competition' for your patent.
While the law is a complex animal that can't be given justice in a couple paragraph blog post, lots of great references exist:
New Patent Law: End of Entrepreneurship?
Untangling The Real Meaning Of "First-To-File" Patents
Leahy-Smith America Invents Act: wikipedia
Your circumstances are unique and confidentiality is our top concern, so if you have specific questions on filing for your invention, please call us.
Get Your Product Launch on Track: A Practical Guide to Agile
Featuring insights from Starlet Smith, Lead Agile Coach at Alliant Energy Product development cycles are lengthening, increasing the risk of missing...
Marketing KPIs & Benchmarks for 2026
We work with B2B leaders every day who have extensive marketing data, but don't know what to make of it. It's hard to know you're on track to meet...