The Senate has passed the “America Invents Act” (H.R. 1249), clearing the way for signing it into law by President Obama.  The Act provides for several major changes to U.S. patent law, including changing the basis for granting patents in the U.S. from first-to-invent to first-inventor-to-file for a patent.  The Act also provides numerous additional substantial changes affecting patent prosecution and patent litigation practices.  The most significant of these changes are summarized in this memo.