Interference No. 103,146
On Sale
Section 102(b) may create a bar to patentability
either alone, if the device placed on sale is an anticipation
of the later claimed invention or, in conjunction with 35
U.S.C. § 103 (1988), if the claimed invention would have been
obvious from the
on-sale device in conjunction with the prior art. In re
Corcoran, 640 F.2d 1331, 1333, 208 USPQ 867, 869 (CCPA 1981).
As stated in Baker Oil Tools v. Geo Vann, Inc., 828 F.2d 1558,
1563, 4 USPQ2d 1210, 1213 (Fed. Cir. 1987):
If a device was in public use or on sale
before the critical date, then that device
becomes a reference under section 103
against the claimed invention.
The general purpose behind § 102(b) bars is to require
inventors to assert with due diligence their right to a patent
through the prompt filing of a patent application. 2 Donald
S. Chisum, Patents § 6.01 (1991). However, a patentee may
escape the § 102(b) bars on the ground the use or sale was
experimental. Id.
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