The court's willingness to entertain the rehearing petition suggests that it may be willing to retract, relax, or otherwise change its rule that has stood since the Special Devices case.
It is well known that if an inventor sells an invention prior to applying for a patent application, the sale can preclude the inventor from obtaining a patent for the invention. In the United States, the inventor also gets a one-year grace period before the on-sale bar applies. In most other countries, the on-sale bar is absolute with no grace period.
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Originally published by IP Frontline
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