Murphy Amanda, Stramiello Michael, Stroud Jonathan, Lewis Stacy, Irving Tom
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP, Washington, D.C. 20001-4413.
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2015 Apr 27;5(9):a020784. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a020784.
This review introduces the America Invents Act (AIA), a comprehensive reform of U.S. law on patentability and patent enforceability that Congress enacted in 2011. The AIA's most publicized change transforms the United States from a "first-to-invent" system to a "first-inventor-to-file" regime, bringing U.S. patent law more in line with the patent systems of nearly every other industrialized country in the world. This new system requires small companies and independent inventors to toe the line against larger competitors in what many have called a "race to the patent office." But a closer look at the AIA reveals several opportunities for smaller entities that may even the playing field, particularly for innovators in the biotech sector. This article addresses changes that the AIA brings to U.S. patent law, keeping an eye toward issues relevant to biotech companies.
本综述介绍了《美国发明法案》（AIA），这是美国国会于2011年颁布的一项关于专利可授予性和专利可执行性的全面法律改革。AIA最广为人知的变化是将美国从“先发明制”转变为“先申请制”，使美国专利法更符合世界上几乎所有其他工业化国家的专利制度。这种新制度要求小公司和独立发明人在许多人所说的“向专利局赛跑”中与大型竞争对手保持一致。但仔细审视AIA会发现，对于较小实体而言存在一些机会，这些机会可能会使竞争环境更加公平，尤其是对生物技术领域的创新者而言。本文论述了AIA给美国专利法带来的变化，并关注与生物技术公司相关的问题。
