The Office of Technology Commercialization issued a campus-wide email Tuesday advising students and faculty to file patent applications before the America Invests Act takes effect March 16th.

The act will change patent law, making the United States a “first to file” country, where inventors will no longer be able to use written evidence to argue that they made an invention before another patent-holder.

The Office of Technology Commercialization urged inventors to disclose new or in-progress inventions to begin the patent application process in order to meet the March 16th deadline.