US House approves patent reform bill

[JURIST] The US House of Representatives [official website] voted 304-117 Friday in favor of the America Invents Act [HR 1249 materials], the largest potential reform to the US patent system since 1952. If the bill passes it would replace the current "first inventor to use" system with a "first inventor to file" system, making US patents more like the European and Japanese systems. In turn, it also changes the way other inventors can challenge a patent, including revising the appeals…