On June 25, 2018, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Helsinn Healthcare S.A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., No. 17-1229,proceedings below, 855 F.3d 1356 (Fed. Cir. 2017), to determine whether a confidential sale triggers the 35 USC §102(b) “on sale” patentability bar.
Question Presented: “Whether, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, an inventor’s sale of an invention to a third party that is obligated to keep the invention confidential qualifies as prior art for purposes of determining the patentability of the invention.”
Merits Decision by the End of June 2019: The case will be argued in the October 2018 Term that runs until the end of June 2019; a merits argument and decision are expected before the end of June 2019.
Naples Roundtable Involvement: The Naples Roundtable, Inc., has participated as an amicus curiae in this case; therefore, no editorial comment will be provided with this note.
The Federal Circuit opinion in this case is reproduced as part of the pdf version of this note.
Regards,
Hal