Provisions of the America Invents Act taking immediate effect

In an ABA-IP Section legislative update, Hayden Gregory listed the provisions of the America Invents Act taking immediate effect upon signing. President Obama signed into law H.R. 1249, the "Leahy-Smith America Invents Act," on September 16, 2011. The overall effective date of the Act is September 16, 2012. Certain provisions, however, will take immediate effect. They include:

- authority of the Director to set or adjust fees.
- ban on tax strategy patents
- ban on patenting human organisms
- reform of false marking of patents
- virtual marking
- changes to best mode
- changes to prior user defense
- standards for ex parte reexamination
- change in venue from D.C. District Court to E.D. Virginia for various patent and trademark actions
- clarification of filing deadline for applications for Hatch-Waxman patent term extension
- exclusive jurisdiction of Federal Circuit of Appeals cases with compulsory claims
- limitations on joinder of infringement defendants
- changes in statute of limitations for USPTO disciplinary actions.