Every year we have a number of law students enter law school who are here to become patent attorneys. For those of you in that category, take note that your future world shifted a bit last night when Congress passed the “Leahy-Smith America Invents Act.” President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law. Among other things, the law will now embody the principle of “first to file” rather than “first to invent.” More details in the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and lots of other places on the web. To check out the history and text of this bill, head over to Thomas. Thomas is a great free resource for researching recent legislative action.