U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

The landmark America Invents Act produced a tribunal within the USPTO that was also unprecedented—the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Formed on Sept. 16, 2012, the PTAB is designed to streamline the process for determining issues of patentability. Its predecessor tribunal was called the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI).

These were all hallmarks of the 2011 Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), which celebrates its 10th anniversary on September 16. The legislation, signed into law by then-President Obama, included some of the most significant reforms to U.S. patent law since 1836.