Grace period and on sale bar related to “secret” sales

In a Supreme Court decision which was unanimous and authored by Justice Thomas, the Court reiterated the significance of offering a product for sale and how it affects the patent eligibility of the product. In Helsinn Healthcare v. Teva Pharma USA (Supreme Court 2019) the Court was asked to look at the enacted AIA and whether “secret” sales continue to qualify as prior art under the revised Section 102.  The court examined the provision that “an inventor’s sale of an invention to ...

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Blockchain Technology and related Patent Protections

Blockchain technology appears to be picking up steam in a multitude of industries. Recently, it was announced that IBM has launched a new blockchain platform in conjunction with nine financial institutions. That is, beyond the cryptocurrency use cases, blockchain technology may be used by financial services industry to create blockhain applications, including know-your-customer processes, derivatives post-trade processing, and reconciliation and market data.

According to Wikipedia, a blockchain is “a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using ...

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An Evolutionary Process: The Ins and Outs of Patent Law

A patent is a “proprietary right granted by the federal government pursuant to laws passed by Congress, which conveys to its owner exclusive rights to a claimed invention.” A simple description surely, but one that’s fraught with twists, turns and pitfalls that make the process of obtaining and defending a patent, particularly one involving an abstract idea, a challenging proposition.

Partner at Brooks Acordia IP Law, PC, Pejman Yedidsion, was quoted in this article:

Read the full article in the ...

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Speedy Patent Prosecution, Part Four: Patent Prosecution Highway

The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a program applicable to inventors filing applications for a single invention in multiple nations or jurisdictions. When one or more claims on one such application have been ruled patentable by one participating nation’s patent office, the corresponding claims on applications filed with another participating nation’s office may be fast-tracked.

For example, an applicant may seek a patent on his invention in both the United States and Canada. If the Canadian Intellectual Property Office allows some ...

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