In recent legal developments, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s First Solar Inc. v. Rovshan Sade decision indicates that a document being accessible online does not automatically render it a prior art “printed publication.” This verdict serves as a potent reminder of the stringent criteria that must be met to establish a reference as a printed publication, as explained by attorneys at Akin.
The core of this discussion focuses on a commonly held assumption in patent law: if a document was available online before the critical date, it is considered to meet the printed publication standard, a crucial threshold element for an anticipation or obviousness challenge that relies on a prior art document.
However, as illustrated by the First Solar Inc. v. Rovshan Sade case, advancements in the digital age have outpaced the law’s ability to appropriately deal with the concept of ‘public accessibility.’ Notably, the long-standing notion of a printed publication and how a digital reference qualifies needs reconsideration. Given that the internet is a public domain, it was assumed that an online document would meet this definition. Still, the recent ruling brings to light that there is much more to it.
The clarification issued by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board on this matter offers essential guidance to patent challengers, including those preparing for trials. The internet, notwithstanding its vastness, is evidently not an all-access pass that brushes aside the printed publication standard.
To explore this topic in further detail, legal professionals interested in patent law can review this content-rich analysis.