President Obama signed into law the America Invents Act which made substantial changes to the U.S. patent system. Taking effect 16 Mar 2013, a provision of the Act establishes a "first-to-file" priority. No longer may a patent be contested on the basis of another person claiming to be the first to invent an invention. "Prior art," used to exclude patentability, was expanded to include public use, sales including foreign offers for sale, publications and disclosures available to the public anywhere is the world as of date of filing. Previously, for example, when William Kelly asserted he was first to invent his "air-boiling" process to refine steel, he was awarded patent priority (23 Jun 1857) over Henry Bessemer in the U.S., even though Bessemer was first to file. Now inventors must file for patents as soon as possible.

After elections in Denmark ended, the center-left bloc led by the Social Democrats won a narrow majority, making their leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt the country's first female prime minister. Thorning-Schmidt ran on a platform of increased taxes, increased government spending, and a strange proposal to have workers add twelve minutes to their workdays in order to increase productivity.