Effective September 16, 2011, Section 15 of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act modifies the requirement that patent applications disclose the "best mode" of performing the claimed invention. Section 15 eliminates challenges to best mode in litigation and expressly removes the requirement for "earlier filed" applications, which include priority applications and continuation-in-part applications.
Eliminating best mode challenges may reduce the cost of patent litigation. However, it remains to be seen whether such challenges may emerge under a different guise, such as inequitable conduct or a similar principle.
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