Comment by wccrawford

I thought the same thing, until someone pointed out that if you publish information on your invention, it makes it impossible for anyone else to file after that. (Prior art.) However, YOU can still file up to a year later. (In Europe, it works as prior art against yourself, though. Meaning you can't file, either.)

That effectively makes it 'first to publish' rather than 'first to file'.

I am not a lawyer, and neither was the person who told me this.