On September 16, 2011, President Obama signed the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, known as the AIA, into law. The purpose of this act was to modernize the United States patent system, and as a result several provisions have been implemented that change the way patents are regulated. On March 16, 2013, the eighteen-month anniversary of the signing of the act, the third and most prominent phase of implementations went into effect. Consequently, The United States now operates under a First Inventor to File (FITF) system, a major change from the previous First to Invent system. Up until March 16, 2013, U.S. law focused on who first conceived of an invention, rather than who filed the patent application itself. Under the AIA, the new focus shifts to whether a “first filer” obtained, or could have obtained, the invention from a “later filer.” Most researchers are familiar with a need to document their conception dates and keep appropriately witnessed notebooks. This requirement was not eliminated in the AIA, but expanded. Read more at…