File for Patent Before Publicly Displaying Tech, Attorneys Warn

A pair of recent Federal Circuit decisions affirming that technology previously displayed publicly isn’t eligible for patent protection should make inventors wary of exhibiting their inventions too early, attorneys say.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found last week in a precedential decision that a medical device shouldn’t have been issued a patent after it was shown at a trade event likened to the gynecologic industry’s Super Bowl.

It also ruled in early February that a Home Depot event that exhibited a “Cherry Star” flower was enough to prevent the plant’s seeds from later gaining patent protection. ...