than larger bureaucracies. And here is where the United States provisional application comes into play. By filing a complete technical disclosure of the invention, a small entity can readily secure priority rights in a first-inventorto-file system without a major expenditure of resources. This then gives the small entity a year in which to file a professionally prepared patent application.

The data provided by the USPTO confirm empirically that the current first-to-invent system of priority provides no advantage to small entities. Figure 6 speaks for itself. Historically, virtually the same number of small entities were advantaged by the first-to-invent system (286) as were disadvantaged (289). And with respect to independent inventors — among the most vocal of first-to-invent adherents - more were disadvantaged (167) than were advantaged (139) by the first-to-invent system.

CONCLUSION

There are many good reasons why the United States should join the

rest of the world in adopting a first-inventor-to-file system

reasons well

beyond the scope of this brief paper. Hopefully, the data presented in this paper - based on 22 years of actual experience - will add constructively to the debate on this very important public policy issue.

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