Clinical Trial Without Confidentiality Agreement Does Not Create Public Use Bar: Federal Circuit | Practical Law
On May 20, 2013, in Dey, LP v. Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that clinical trials of a drug that would anticipate the patented drug were not a public use bar even though the clinical trial participants did not sign confidentiality agreements. The Federal Circuit determined that the circumstances of the clinical trial created an expectation of secrecy that avoided the public use bar under Section 102(b) of the Patent Act.