Knowing what qualifies as prior art is a core requirement of patent practitioners—whether in life sciences, in the technology sectors or in post-grant proceedings. It is important to keep abreast of changes to the rules, especially if the Federal Circuit weighs in. On March 24, 2025, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision in In Re Riggs, Case No: 22-1945 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 24, 2025) clarifying the standard for determining whether a published patent application can be considered prior art as of its provisional filing date. Although this case was decided under pre-AIA law, the standard elucidated by the Federal Circuit reinforces the importance of drafting detailed provisional applications and knowing the requirements for establishing prior art under both pre-AIA and AIA law.
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