Under 35 U.S.C. § 102, the on-sale bar generally holds that the sale of a patented invention more than one year before the filing date invalidates the patent.

The decision follows the Court's recent opinion in Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that similarly eliminated the laches defense in copyright infringement cases.

Under the America Invents Act, post-grant reviews are only available for patents having at least one claim with an effective filing date of March 16, 2013 or later.

This week, the Supreme Court lowered the standard for enhanced, or trebled, damages for willful infringement in patent cases.