#US #patent reform high on agenda after summer break:

The end of the summer signals the next stage in the reform of US patents, with the bill that aims to streamline the system – which currently has a backlog of some 1.2 million patents pending – reaching Congress.

The major change to be brought in by the bill is a move from the current US system of awarding patents to the “first-to-invent” to the “first-to-file” system used by other countries.