First To File Rule
Categories: Regulations, Company Management
Horses aren’t the only ones still racing. U.S. patent law has this thing colloquially called the “first to file rule,” which is a Hunger-Games-style way of saying “may the filing process be ever in your favor.” It’s not who came up with an idea first who has the rights to a patent, but whoever filed it first. Thus, the race to file.
Whoever files a patent first usually gets full rights to whatever government-sponsored monopoly over an idea, which can be a lot of $$$ on the line. Plus bragging rights, because inventing and discovering things is...kinda cool, we guess.
For a long time, the U.S. tried to give patents to whoever could prove that they invented the thing or idea first. But the America Invents Act of 2011, which came into full force in 2013, put the “first to file rule” in place, replacing ye olden ways.