One year later, key provisions of AIA take effect

Several sections of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act of 2011 (AIA) went into effect on Sunday, one year after the Act was signed into law. The most important of the new rules relate to post-grant review procedures whereby third parties will be able to challenge patents within the patent office. We’ll soon learn how it works, as Microsoft has already put up their $17,000+ fee (supposedly) and filed an inter partes review petition relating to Proxyconn patent claims which Microsoft is accused of infringing.

Two other key parts of the AIA now in effect are the provision on supplemental examination, which permits applicants to supplement information relevant to an invention’s patentability, and, now for the first time, an assignee can file a patent application.