 The oldest patent enforcement firm in the U.S.  First-to-File
vs. First-to-Invent: Who Really Benefits from Changing the U.S.
Patent System?  Wealth of Ideas Newsletter, October 2007  The
United States patent system is based on a unique "First-to-
Invent" doctrine, which means that the inventor who first
conceived of the invention and then diligently reduced it to
practice by filing a patent application (or actual reduction to
practice) is considered the first inventor and is entitled to
patent protection.  Almost every other country in the world has
a patent system based on the "First-to-File" doctrine, in which
the patent is granted to the inventor who is the first to file a
patent application, regardless of the date of invention.  For a
number of years there have been unsuccessful attempts to change
the US patent system from a First-to-Invent to a First-to-File
system.  The most recent proposal, embodied in The Patent Reform
Act of 2007, which was recently passed by the House of
Representatives and is awai