The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit tweaked its approach Monday to the on-sale bar—the rule that holds patents invalid if the invention was “on sale” more than a year before the filing of the patent application. Judge Kathleen O’Malley’s ruling was a win for small pharmaceutical companies, which will be allowed to pay suppliers to manufacture their products without it constituting a “sale” that starts the one-year clock.
Federal Circuit watchers and other appellate lawyers will recognize the decision in The Medicines Co. v. Hospira as a win for the Federal Circuit itself. Here are three reasons why:
