Morgan Lewis

The Uruguay Round Agreements Act and its Effect on Patent Rights Under U.S. Law

By Robert J. Gaybrick, John G. Smith

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White Paper

  • published on:

    02/01/1995

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The Uruguay Round Agreements Act (Act), Pub. L. No. 103-465, was signed by President Clinton on December 8, 1994. The Act significantly affects many areas of U.S. law, including the areas of patent, trademark and copyright law. This paper focuses on the impact of the Act on U.S. patent law.

The Act (1) changes the term of enforcement granted to utility patents; (2) changes the patent statute so that, subject to certain restrictions, weight is now accorded to inventive activity occurring outside the United States; (3) changes the definition of patent infringement; and (4) establishes a domestic priority system within the United States. These changes are discussed in the following sections.


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