AUSTIN, TX - Bio-based additive manufacturer Reactive Surfaces has filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas. The suit alleges that, although Toyota Motor Corp. filed patent applications long after Reactive Surfaces, the United States Patent & Trademark Office incorrectly granted certain patents to Toyota. It also alleges that the government agency is continuing to incorrectly grant Toyota patents in view of Reactive Surfaces’ own earlier-filed U.S. patent applications, which disclose and claim the same inventions.
A change in U.S. patent laws, a change that Reactive Surfaces says will radically alter U.S. patent laws from a first-to-invent system to one based upon first-to-file, is the main issue to be addressed in this series of legal challenges.