Text vs Precedent: Celanese and the Secret Process On-Sale Bar
Briefly

In Celanese Int'l Corp. v. Int'l Trade Comm'n, the Federal Circuit upheld the ITC's decision to invalidate patents for processes that were rendered non-patentable due to prior sales. This raises critical questions about the scope of the AIA's on-sale bar and whether secret processes can enjoy future patent protections if products made by those processes have been sold.
Celanese Int'l's pending petition to the Supreme Court seeks clarification on whether sales of products using a secret process can invalidate future patent applications. This issue encompasses both legal and policy challenges that could profoundly impact how patent rights are viewed in cases involving proprietary technology.
Read at Patently-O
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