On September 16, 2011, President Obama signed the euphemistically named American Invents Act. While its benefit to inventors is suspect, its impact on patent law cannot be disputed.

The first AIA patent to issue, i.e.. the first patent issued on an application filed on or after the March 16, 2013, effective date of the Act, is U.S. Patent No. 8,542,543 filed March 16, 2013, and issued September 24, 2013:

Only 140 patents have issued so far on applications filed on March 16, 2013 — a Saturday. 10,474 patents have issued on applications filed a day earlier, no doubt this number is bolstered by applicants trying to avoid the uncertain impact of the new patent law as a typical weekday’s filing result in 1,500-2,000 patents.

Like it or hate it, we are stuck with AIA patents, and U.S. Patent No. 8,542,543 led the way.