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Supreme Court Affirms that Secret Sales Are Still Prior Art, Can Bar Patenting, in Counter to Current USPTO Procedure
On Tuesday, January 22, 2019, the US Supreme Court held in Helsinn Healthcare S.A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. that the America Invents Act (“AIA”) did not narrow the scope of the on-sale bar in patent cases, and that prior “secret sales” of an invention may invalidate a patent on the invention. Emphasizing that prior to the enactment of the AIA the term “on sale” had a well-settled judicial interpretation that included confidential sales, the Court held that Congress’ inclusion of additional language in the AIA was not enough to evince a clear intent to change the scope of the on-sale bar for patents filed after the AIA was enacted.