Case: Patents/Eligibility (D. Del.)

A federal district court in Delaware ruled that a Minerva Surgical Inc. patent related to a device used to treat abnormal uterine bleeding was ineligible for patent protection under the public display or on-sale bar in this action by Cytyc Surgigal Products LLC and Hologic Inc seeking a declaration of invalidity. Minerva displayed a prototype of the device at a 2009 trade show, making it ineligible for patent protection, the court ruled, noting that no reasonable juror could find that the prototype was something other than the invention that Minerva later attempted to patent.