It looks like the America Invents Act has been passed by both the House and Senate, and it is on its way to the President’s desk. And it looks like the President is going to sign the bill. What is this going to mean?

I do not know much about intellectual property policy, but everybody knows that American patent system is seriously broken. From the backlog of patents that have been filed and are waiting to be reviewed, to the absurd patents that are being granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office, to patent trolling that is now a business (cf. the business practices of Intellectual Ventures), and the technology patent wars that corporations are waging. It’s all craziness.

And now it appears there is going to be a revision to the way patents are granted that puts more power into the hands of the large corporations. Where ‘invention’ had been the act that merited a patent, now it seems that filing paperwork on an idea first will now take precedence. How is this an improvement in the system? How is this going to help fix the problems in the US patent system?

Really, I want to know. Please share what you know. Share links. Share information. Please.

Update: The NYTimes.com has an article on this: Fighting Backlog in Patents, Senate Approves Overhaul