The patent world faced the most far-reaching legislative change in decades on September 16, 2011, when President Barack Obama signed into law the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA). In light of this landmark change, the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) invited TPR President, Ford Khorsandian, to address the Corporate Practice Committee to discuss the considerations in patent searching after AIA.

There are several provisions of the AIA and one of the most significant is the law’s change, effective March 16, 2013, where the United States moved from a ‘first-to-invent’ system toward a ‘first inventor-to-file’ system. Mr. Khorsandian discussed this transition and its impact on patent searching in addition to the new definition of ‘prior art’ under AIA, pre-issuance submissions by third parties and post grant proceedings options.