[detst]

No. You should read the other comments before posting. DannyBee explains above: "It's about what happens when two people file patent apps for things they can both prove they invented." If I steal your invention and patent it, you still have the opportunity to show that it was your stolen idea.

[Daniel_Newby]

Civil lawsuits use a balance of probabilities standard. If the IP theft was well conducted, and the patent holder forged a careful back story, then the true inventor loses almost automatically.

[icebraining]

Remember that everyone except the US has been first-to-file for a long time. Can you provide evidence of this being a problem somewhere else?

[gamblor956]

That's not how civil lawsuits works...

Also, you're suggesting that if two criminal activities were well conducted, the inventor will lose a civil case? If this criminal activity is revealed, it invalidates the patent and subjects the executives and lawyers responsible to criminal sanctions and massive civil liabilities, including forfeiting all profits derived from the fraudulent patent and treble damages (i.e., 3x the actual damages the true inventor suffered). It's simply not ever worth the business risk to pursue this path.