firsttofile

First-to-file (FTF) is a patent priority principle under which the applicant who files a patent application earliest is entitled to the patent rights for an invention, regardless of who actually conceived or reduced the invention to practice first. In a first-to-file system, disputes about who invented first are minimized because filing date largely determines priority.

Historically, the United States operated under a first-to-invent regime, where priority could depend on the date of conception and reduction to practice. The America Invents Act (AIA) of 2011 transitioned the United States to a first-to-file regime, with most provisions taking effect in 2013. Today, first-to-file is the standard in the United States as well as in most major jurisdictions, including Europe, Japan, China, and Canada. Under FTF, applicants often secure an earliest filing date through provisional applications or initial filings, and later documents may be used to claim priority under national laws or the Paris Convention.

Key features of first-to-file include the filing date as the primary determinant of priority, and in some jurisdictions the availability of derivation proceedings to address claims that an inventor derived the invention from another. In addition, novelty and inventive-step (non-obviousness) requirements continue to govern patentability, independent of who filed first.

Some jurisdictions provide a grace period that allows certain disclosures by the inventor before filing, but the existence and scope of such grace periods vary by country. First-to-file affects patent strategy by encouraging earlier filings and careful disclosure practices, while not guaranteeing a patent, since claims must still be novel, non-obvious, and adequately disclosed.