What is the name of the 2011 U.S. patent reform law?

The 2011 U.S. patent reform law was the Leahy–Smith America Invents Act, commonly shortened to the America Invents Act or AIA. President Barack Obama signed it on September 16, 2011, as Public Law 112-29.

The law made the most significant changes to U.S. patent law in decades. Its best-known reform moved the United States from a “first-to-invent” framework toward a “first-inventor-to-file” system, aligning American practice more closely with much of the rest of the world. The change generally rewards the first qualifying inventor to file an application, rather than whoever can later prove the earliest invention date.

The AIA also created or revised administrative procedures for challenging patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Inter partes review and post-grant review gave challengers additional routes to contest patent validity outside traditional federal-court litigation. The statute also addressed prior-user rights, inventor declarations and patent-marking rules.

It is often confused with the Bayh–Dole Act, a 1980 law concerning federally funded research and university patent ownership. The Technology Transfer Act is also a different statute and does not name the 2011 overhaul.