Surgeries Conducted More Than a Year Before Patenting Found Not to Bar Patent on Surgical Method

In an important decision impacting life sciences patentees, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Barry v. Medtronic, Inc., affirmed a jury's finding that a doctor was not barred by § 102(b) from patenting a new surgical procedure, even though he performed that surgery on three patients more than a year before applying for a patent. Katherine A. Helm, Noah M. Leibowitz, and Robert D. Rhoad, partners at Dechert LLP, discuss the case.