US Supreme Court rules: AIA did not alter precedent on prior art

by Shubha Ghosh, Crandall Melvin Professor of Law and Director, Technology Commercialization Law Curricular Program and SIPLI

On Tuesday, January 22, 2019, the Supreme Court announced its anticipated decision in Helsinn v. Teva. At issue in the case was whether the American Invents Act of 2011 altered long standing precedent on the on sale bar (and implicitly other types of prior art). The Court ruled, unanimously in a short ten-page opinion, that Congress did non overrule Supreme Court precedent regarding the on sale bar when it enacted the AIA. Abrogation of established rules requires a clear and unambiguous statement from Congress. In my opinion, the ruling is not surprising and to be expected although it does highlight age-old questions about secret prior art. These questions have been addressed by lower courts, but not by the Supreme Court. Does the Helsinn ruling mean that the Supreme Court might address these open questions? Probably not. Watch for a SIPLI Webcast to further explore the ruling and these issues…

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