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From: jack@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Current law
Message-ID: <2863@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk>
Date: 28 Apr 89 10:19:51 GMT
References: <3986@ficc.uu.net>
Reply-To: jack@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin)
Organization: COMANDOS Project, Glesga Yoonie, Unthank
Lines: 19


jeffd@ficc.uu.net (jeff daiell) wrote:
  
> There's been so much talk about what copyright and patent law *should be*,
> I'd like to know what it currently *is*. [Does the law support] the first to
> invent, or the first to patent?  And is the law going to change any time soon?

This comes from New Scientist's articles about patent law over the last couple
of years: most of the world uses "first to file".  The US uses "first to
invent"; in practice this difference mainly benefits patent lawyers rather
than inventors.  There is a glaring piece of chauvinism in the US law, in that
laboratory notebooks predating the application are only admissible as evidence
if they originate from the USA.

-- 
Jack Campin  *  Computing Science Department, Glasgow University, 17 Lilybank
Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ, SCOTLAND.    041 339 8855 x6045 wk  041 556 1878 ho
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