Sec. 6. Post-grant procedures and other quality enhancements. 
Sec. 7. Definitions; patent trial and appeal board. 
Sec. 8. Study and report on reexamination proceedings. 
Sec. 9. Submissions by third parties and other quality enhancements. 
Sec. 10. Venue and jurisdiction. 
Sec. 11. Regulatory authority. 
Sec. 12. Technical amendments. 
Sec. 13. Effective date; rule of construction. 
SEC. 2. REFERENCE TO TITLE 35, UNITED STATES CODE. 
Whenever in this Act a section or other provision is 
amended or repealed, that amendment or repeal shall be 
considered to be made to that section or other provision 
of title 35, United States Code. 
SEC. 3. RIGHT OF THE FIRST INVENTOR TO FILE. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 100 is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) The term ‘inventor’ means the individual or, if 
a joint invention, the individuals collectively who invented 
or discovered the subject matter of the invention. 
‘‘(g) The terms ‘joint inventor’ and ‘coinventor’ mean 
any 1 of the individuals who invented or discovered the 
subject matter of a joint invention. 
‘‘(h) The ‘effective filing date of a claimed invention’ 
is— 
‘‘(1) the filing date of the patent or the applica-
tion for patent containing the claim to the invention; 
or 
‘‘(2) if the patent or application for patent is 
entitled to a right of priority of any other applica-
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tion under section 119, 365(a), or 365(b) or to the 
benefit of an earlier filing date in the United States 
under section 120, 121, or 365(c), the filing date of 
the earliest such application in which the claimed in-
vention is disclosed in the manner provided by the 
first paragraph of section 112. 
‘‘(i) The term ‘claimed invention’ means the subject 
matter defined by a claim in a patent or an application 
for a patent. 
‘‘(j) The term ‘joint invention’ means an invention 
resulting from the collaboration of inventive endeavors of 
2 or more persons working toward the same end and pro-
ducing an invention by their collective efforts.’’. 
(b) CONDITIONS FOR PATENTABILITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 102 is amended to 
read as follows: 
‘‘§ 102. Conditions for patentability; novelty 
‘‘(a) NOVELTY; PRIOR ART.—A patent for a claimed 
invention may not be obtained if— 
‘‘(1) the claimed invention was patented, de-
scribed in a printed publication, or in public use or 
on sale— 
‘‘(A) more than one year before the effec-
tive filing date of the claimed invention; or 
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‘‘(B) one year or less before the effective 
filing date of the claimed invention, other than 
through disclosures made by the inventor or a 
joint inventor or by others who obtained the 
subject matter disclosed directly or indirectly 
from the inventor or a joint inventor; or 
‘‘(2) the claimed invention was described in a 
patent issued under section 151, or in an application 
for patent published or deemed published under sec-
tion 122(b), in which the patent or application, as 
the case may be, names another inventor and was 
effectively filed before the effective filing date of the 
claimed invention. 
‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.— 
‘‘(1) PRIOR
INVENTOR
DISCLOSURE
EXCEP-
TION.—Subject matter that would otherwise qualify 
as prior art under subparagraph (B) of subsection 
(a)(1) shall not be prior art to a claimed invention 
under that subparagraph if the subject matter had, 
before the applicable date under such subparagraph 
(B), been publicly disclosed by the inventor or a 
joint inventor or others who obtained the subject 
matter disclosed directly or indirectly from the in-
ventor, joint inventor, or applicant. 
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‘‘(2) DERIVATION
AND
COMMON
ASSIGNMENT 
EXCEPTIONS.—Subject matter that would otherwise 
qualify as prior art only under subsection (a)(2), 
after taking into account the exception under para-
graph (1), shall not be prior art to a claimed inven-
tion if— 
‘‘(A) the subject matter was obtained di-
rectly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint 
inventor; or 
‘‘(B) the subject matter and the claimed 
invention, not later than the effective filing date 
of the claimed invention, were owned by the 
same person or subject to an obligation of as-
signment to the same person. 
‘‘(3) JOINT
RESEARCH
AGREEMENT
EXCEP-
TION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject matter and a 
claimed invention shall be deemed to have been 
owned by the same person or subject to an obli-
gation of assignment to the same person in ap-
plying the provisions of paragraph (2) if— 
‘‘(i) the claimed invention was made 
by or on behalf of parties to a joint re-
search agreement that was in effect on or 
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before the effective filing date of the 
claimed invention; 
‘‘(ii) the claimed invention was made 
as a result of activities undertaken within 
the scope of the joint research agreement; 
and 
‘‘(iii) the application for patent for 
the claimed invention discloses or is 
amended to disclose the names of the par-
ties to the joint research agreement. 
‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), 
the term ‘joint research agreement’ means a 
written contract, grant, or cooperative agree-
ment entered into by two or more persons or 
entities for the performance of experimental, 
developmental, or research work in the field of 
the claimed invention. 
‘‘(4) PATENTS AND PUBLISHED APPLICATIONS 
EFFECTIVELY FILED.—A patent or application for 
patent is effectively filed under subsection (a)(2) 
with respect to any subject matter described in the 
patent or application— 
‘‘(A) as of the filing date of the patent or 
the application for patent; or 
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‘‘(B) if the patent or application for patent 
is entitled to claim a right of priority under sec-
tion 119, 365(a), or 365(b) or to claim the ben-
efit of an earlier filing date under section 120, 
121, or 365(c), based upon one or more prior 
filed applications for patent, as of the filing 
date of the earliest such application that de-
scribes the subject matter.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The item re-
lating to section 102 in the table of sections for 
chapter 10 is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘102. Conditions for patentability; novelty.’’. 
(c) CONDITIONS FOR PATENTABILITY; NON-OBVIOUS 
SUBJECT MATTER.—Section 103 is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘§ 103. Conditions for patentability; nonobvious sub-
ject matter 
‘‘A patent for a claimed invention may not be ob-
tained though the claimed invention is not identically dis-
closed as set forth in section 102, if the differences be-
tween the claimed invention and the prior art are such 
that the claimed invention as a whole would have been ob-
vious before the effective filing date of the claimed inven-
tion to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which 
the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be 
negated by the manner in which the invention was made.’’. 
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(d) REPEAL OF REQUIREMENTS FOR INVENTIONS 
MADE ABROAD.—Section 104, and the item relating to 
that section in the table of sections for chapter 10, are 
repealed. 
(e) REPEAL OF STATUTORY INVENTION REGISTRA-
TION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 157, and the item 
relating to that section in the table of sections for 
chapter 14, are repealed. 
(2) REMOVAL OF CROSS REFERENCES.—Section 
111(b)(8) is amended by striking ‘‘sections 115, 
131, 135, and 157’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 131 and 
135’’. 
(f) EARLIER FILING DATE
FOR INVENTOR
AND 
JOINT INVENTOR.—Section 120 is amended by striking 
‘‘which is filed by an inventor or inventors named’’ and 
inserting ‘‘which names an inventor or joint inventor’’. 
(g) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) RIGHT
OF
PRIORITY.—Section 172 is 
amended by striking ‘‘and the time specified in sec-
tion 102(d)’’. 
(2) 
LIMITATION
ON
REMEDIES.—Section 
287(c)(4) is amended by striking ‘‘the earliest effec-
tive filing date of which is prior to’’ and inserting 
‘‘which has an effective filing date before’’. 
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