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by cube13
5398 days ago
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>Before this you could keep good records of your work and be safe in the knowledge that if anyone patented your idea after you created it, you would at least have the prior art to prove you came up with it first. Now you must patent it in order to be safe. A troll can come along at any time and patent your idea and screw you out of your hardwork. This is only true if you apply for the patent at a later date, without publicly releasing the invention or giving out any details. In a first-to-invent case, you would have a prior art argument if you applied for the patent after the other party. However, if you don't ever bother patenting or releasing the invention, you do not have any protections in either a first-to-file or first-to-invent system. Those rules only apply when two patents for the same invention are applied for around the same time. If you release the invention as a product, and someone files for the patent after you released it, that is a clear prior art case, and they should lose the patent. |
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Releasing a product does not constitute prior art. The invention must be documented and you must explain its use, in a public forum. Today, most inventions play supporting roles in the background. They are rarely seen or heard or documented.
In our current system, you have some protections as you can demonstrate that you are indeed the first to invent by using your product as evidence and you can publish your work down the road, if it becomes an issue. In the new system, nobody cares. He who files first wins.