The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the PTAB's decision regarding an examiner's rejection of patentability in In re: Riggs. The CAFC held that the PTAB applied an inadequate test in determining the qualification of prior art associated with a provisional patent application. This decision emphasizes that a provisional application must provide explicit written support for the claimed material in question. The appeal involved a logistics system that integrates various shipping methodologies, showcasing the complexities of patent law in defining prior art references under the pre-America Invents Act framework.
"...the CAFC found that the provisional application must provide written description support for the specific portions of the patent specification relied upon in the prior art rejection."
...the appellate court held that the PTAB used an insufficient test for finding that claimed subject matter was disclosed by a non-provisional patent application that only qualified as prior art based on the critical date of an earlier filed provisional."
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