Professor F. Scott Kieff (GWU) notes that debate over the constitutionality of a first-to-file patent system hides the major policy concerns associated with FTF and more specifically with the major amendments proposed in the patent reform measures winding their way through Congress.
Kieff writes:
Basically, the efficiency gains of switching to FTF can be easily eclipsed by a marked increase in uncertainty and other costs as we try to figure out how to really handle these different real world situations. What is more, the way many of the rules in the proposed bill stack up is to favor incumbents by a large margin.
In a series four short essays, Kieff outlines his position against FTF: