CAFC Says PTAB Did Not Err in Holding Private Sale Was Not a ‘Public Disclosure’ Under Prior Art Exception
Updated: 2024-07-31 21:15:45
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on Tuesday issued a precedential decision affirming the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) invalidation of Sanho Corporation’s patent based on its finding that a key prior art reference was not exempt under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b)(2)(B). The so-called prior art exception under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b)(2)(B) provides that “[a] disclosure shall not be prior art to a claimed invention under subsection [102](a)(2) if . . . the subject matter disclosed had, before such subject matter was effectively filed under subsection (a)(2), been publicly disclosed by the inventor.”