November 16, 2015
On November 13, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted a petition for rehearing en banc a case decided in July of this year, The Medicines Co. v. Hospira Inc. One of the issues to be considered is whether the court should revisit the question of whether there is a “supplier exception” under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b). A 2001 Federal Circuit case, Special Devices Inc. v. OVA, Inc., expressed the principle that there was no “supplier exception” to the on-sale bar under section 102(b).
Fitch Even attorneys are monitoring the Hospira case and will report on the court’s decision in a future alert.
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